"2006 will be the year of mobile advertising experimentation," says visiongain report

From 2005, when the nascent market garnered $255 million in Europe and the United States, mobile marketing and advertising in these two geographical areas will grow to exceed $1 billion in 2009, according to visiongain.

The increasing availability of multimedia content is opening a large opportunity for sophisticated forms of mobile advertising. As content that already incorporates advertising - like live TV programming - makes its way to mobile handsets, brands and entertainment content providers are beginning to see the value of presenting full multimedia ads with programs.

Players across the value chain are developing their strategies and positioning themselves in this space. Operators in the U.S. and Western Europe are currently either testing various forms of advertising with 3G services or are allowing ads to be served on their portals. A number of multimedia companies will launch advertising in 2006 within their multimedia offering. Furthermore, the entry of large online search engines into the mobile world opens up new advertising opportunities in the shape of context-based mobile search.

“The mobile phone is a very personal device that most people carry with them 24 hours a day. It affords advertisers an opportunity to present very targeted and time-sensitive information that is of interest to the user. That is a key advantage. With customer permission, advertisers can collect valuable demographic and behavioural information to hone the marketing message,” says visiongain analyst and the report’s lead author Marcia Kaplan.

“3G technology enables the delivery of richer content to mobile phone users, but there is a limit to how many additional charges and subscriptions mobile phone users will accept. At some point, content will have to be sponsored or partially subsidised by advertising. We are also seeing the emergence of ad-subsidised MVNOs, which plan to offer free airtime in exchange for targeted advertising to subscribers,” adds Kaplan.

The report notes that certain elements need to fall into place before mobile advertising can establish itself as a viable medium. Issues to be resolved include business models and revenue share, the type, length and frequency of ads, consumer attitudes and many others. Operators will have to walk a fine line between maximising the revenue potential of advertising, while at the same time not risk alienating subscribers and increasing churn by doing so.

Based on interviews with key market participants, including operators, vendors, media agencies, software application providers, access providers, marketing specialists, and trade association representatives, this 170+ page report analyses the market drivers and barriers affecting mobile advertising and marketing. It discusses the main market trends and charts the market evolution in the US and Europe. The report examines mobile advertising opportunities presented by MMS, video, TV, LBS, as well as contextual advertising. Regional forecasts are provided up to the year 2011.

ENDS

Notes for Editors
If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, including the Executive Summary, charts and images, please email sara.peerun@visiongain.com or phone Sara on +44 (0) 20 8767 6711.

About visiongain
Visiongain is one of the fastest growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, visiongain produces a host of business-2-business conferences, newsletters, management reports and e-zines focusing on the Telecoms, Pharmaceutical and Defence sectors.

Visiongain publishes reports produced by its in-house analysts, who are qualified experts in their field. Visiongain has firmly established itself as the first port-of-call for the business professional, who needs independent, high quality, original material to rely and depend on.

For more information on visiongain, please visit the website: www.visiongainintelligence.com