Marketing Pilgrim

The Cellular-News brings new hope for mobile media marketing today: teens in the UK say OK to mobile ads. Among the 1500 cell users aged 11-20 surveyed by Q Research, 32% were willing to receive ads on their mobile phones. Contrast that to the 90% of American adults who weren’t at all interested in receiving them.

Targeting increased teens’ willingness to receive ads: 71% said they’d be willing only if the ads were for things they were already interested in. 76% would be willing to receive ads in exchange for incentives like discounts and special offers. 82% would be willing to receive ads in exchange for “top-up” credit (pay-as-you-go customers’ willingness rose to 90%). Again, to contrast this with American adults, only 1/3 were willing to receive ads in exchange for incentives, and their preferred incentive was cash (78%).

The survey also asked about the preferred format for ads: 70% said picture ads, followed by 53% who’d take video ads and 45% who’d take text. Cellular-News stated:

The main reason for the unpopularity of video ads was concern about the price of receiving these files. Only boys under 16 chose video ads, with almost three-quarters saying they would like to receive them.

And one more comparison: American adults preferred text (56%) over picture ads (40%) and video ads (<25%).

Q Research said of its study:

As one of the UK’s leading high street banks announces this week it is using location-based advertising to its customers’ mobiles, this research is very timely for advertisers.

That would be HBSC. We’ll have to watch to see how that works out.

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