There is significant experimentation underway today in mobile and social advertising. Unlike many emerging markets, it's primarily the big brands that are leading the charge. In fact, 2007 has been declared the "year of trial" for how advertising may transform to accommodate digital and social media. Even with this innovation, however, there is still the constant drum beat from all the major media players for standards, for measurement and ROI rigor.
iO sponsored an executive panel and another in its series of Mobile Experience Leadership roundtable discussions at last month's Advertising Research Foundation Conference and Expo. It's here that the leading thinkers, media researchers and advertising practitioners gather to discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with consumer engagement and relationship marketing.
Mobile advertising, to no surprise, headlined the conference as it poses such enormous promise for ever more granular targeting and ever more efficient and effective advertising and marketing investment. At the same time, the individualization of mobile presents the ultimate challenge to the advertising industry overall -- become relevant and individual, or be tuned out. It seems this might be the rallying cry for a significant transformation in the industry.
The discussion among the roundtable leaders illustrated the great divide in today's mobile advertising perspectives and practices. On one side, the proponent of the ROI uplift that can be achieved with "true sponsorship" is iO's advisor Bill Harvey. The approach here is simple. The advertising sponsor offers the content or service to the individual as a gift with no strings attached. It is logical that this sponsorship "gifting" over a consistent and sustainable period will yield not only recall but a real relationship between the advertiser and the consumer. His 29 studies focused on proving the effectiveness of this type of sponsorship in the online world proved a consistent average lift in purchase intent or consideration of 29%.
On the other side of the divide is the question as to whether the value of this type of sponsorship would be realized for lesser known brands. The perspective here is that awareness-creating (and possibly more intrusive) ads need to be shown to the consumer for the less familiar brand to be noticed. But is this really the kind of awareness that an advertiser wants? And does it deliver any sustainable value over time?
The mobile medium presents the opportunity to combine the best practices from advertising, marketing and the social sciences. It is the first individualized medium converging the reach of the mass market with the personal control of the individual. It provides the first opportunity for advertisers to forge and sustain real relationships with many individual consumers on an individual basis.
Perhaps the great divide is not really between the best advertising approaches for mobile. Instead it is likely the gap between advertisers and consumers. There really is only one way to bridge this great divide. Deliver real value to the consumer, according to their desires and demands. That would indeed be unique and, with the help of technology, sustainable. Any brand that did this would certainly be noticed!
Video of the roundtable is available at www.io-me.com
Elizabeth Chaney
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