Mobile advertising poised to take off in Asia Pacific
ConvergenceAsia staff
25/06/2007

Acision has released findings from its survey on mobile advertising trends conducted with 100 trade visitors at Asia Pacific's premier technology event, CommunicAsia 2007. The survey findings depict an industry ready to embrace mobile advertising in countries where there is high mobile penetration. Respondents surveyed believe that advertisers are looking to the mobile platform as the newest channel through which to reach their target audiences and drive brand awareness, driven by its wide reach beyond that offered by more traditional TV and radio advertising.

Boudewijn Pesch, Managing Director, Asia Pacific for Acision commented, "Global brands are looking to the mobile platform to reach out to an increasingly mobile, internet savvy customer who is looking for relevant and useful marketing messages and greater freedom in the way they use mobile services to make consumer purchases."

Mobile advertising is already taking hold in the region with the majority of respondents (71 per cent) stating that they receive text and multimedia advertisements on their mobile devices, 32 per cent of which currently receive them at least once a week. Of those who did not currently receive adverts on their mobile, nearly a third (29 per cent) explained that this was the result of pro-active opt out rather than a lack of enabling infrastructure. Interestingly for a poll among industry experts, only half (47 per cent) understood the opt-in or opt-out nature of mobile advertising.

The mobile phone is almost omnipresent in Asia Pacific, where mobile penetration is steadily growing in developing markets like India and China, and already near or at full penetration in mature economies like Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. These market conditions were believed by many to be one of the key factors in the appeal of the mobile as an advertising mechanism.

However, the survey also revealed the opinion that operators will need to better understand the types of products and services desired by their customers in order to effectively target mobile adverts, a challenge beginning to be solved by technologies such as Customer Intelligence Management. Service providers would need to work closely with potential advertisers in aligning these preferences with the advertiser’s products in order to ensure the success of their mobile advertising campaigns.

In fact, more than a third (34 per cent) of all respondents indicated that ad customisation is the most important factor when deciding whether to subscribe to mobile advertising funded services. Most respondents preferred to receive mobile adverts that are tailored to their likes and preferences, and location relevant. If not effectively targeted, 23 per cent would prefer not to receive mobile ads at all.

Finally, the perception of mistargeted advertising as spam was raised as an issue. Thirty-four per cent of respondents chose spam management as a primary success factor. Ease of use was also an important consideration, along with simplicity of viewing and response.

Pesch added, "The findings are exciting because they reveal key insights into perceptions of mobile advertising, and what is required for it to take off in Asia Pacific. Asians have always been very open to new mobile services, and mobile advertising looks set to be the next trend."

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