Mobile ad spend stats…Are we there yet?
Lots of new mobile ad spend and planning-related research in the past few days… Most of it is good, but some of it still points to mobile as an up-and-comer yet to realize it’s potential. Digiday says “Mobile is a lot like Harry Potter: clearly brilliant, something of an orphan and unsure what it will be when it grows up — and whether it can harness its power.” That made me laugh.
Meanwhile, Mediapost cites research from J.P. Morgan that says U.S. mobile ad spend will hit $1.2 Billion In 2011. Most of the predictions for 2011 U.S. mobile ad spend are just below or just above a billion.
I think the points made in the Digiday article by Michael Zimbalist of the NYTimes are on target. He sees mobile as a channel built for cross media opportunities and points out that consumers are jumping from screen to screen, “…using mobile devices in conjunction with traditional media outlets like TV.” (Zimbalist doesn’t offer data to back this up, but it’s out there, we’ve all seen it and I think we can agree for the moment…If I must, I’ll dig up the data and post here if anyone isn’t yet convinced.) This should certainly be seen as an opportunity for integrated buys that include highly creative, intelligent, context-aware mobile ad spend that leverages the unique capabilities of mobile devices – Not just slapping banners on mobile sites/apps. I wrote on this subject last week in response to comments made by Eric Litman, CEO of rich media ad company, Medialets. Yes there are obstacles to scale in mobile rich media and overall mobile ad spend, but those obstacles are being overcome – or tracked around – by taking smarter approaches to building and serving rich media mobile creative and measurement.
Will integrated mobile ad Spend become the norm?
eMarketer published a chart of survey data from Chief Marketer that indicates it will.
From my perspective, brands are already moving things in the right direction as they demand highly engaging rich media ads on tablets. This is encouraging for mobile ad spend as the bar is being raised above that of crappy banners and the slavish devotion to CTR’s. Smart brand integration coupled with highly engaging rich media ad units should ensure mobile ad spend reaches maturity.
I’m sure I’ll be writing more on the subject of mobile ad spend, so stay tuned!
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