Because it Cannot be Said Enough

This article for RCR Wireless News by Laura Marriott, President of the Mobile Marketing Association, comes three ways to implement mobile advertising.  Sample line about why mobile advertising is fun and relevant?

What types of advertisers are using the text-based advertising approach? Credit-card companies, travel agents, florists, automotive manufacturers—the brands that want to be in front of the consumer all of the time.

Note that it's the brand that wants to be in front of the consumer, not the consumer who wants the brand in front of them all the time. 

Ms. Marriott is mindful of what consumers want when she mentions at the very end of her article

We must work together to build a sustainable channel, but let’s not forget about the consumer. 4INFO’s Thet tells me “our first and primary focus is on the consumer and putting the consumer experience first. Consumers are not opting in to have ads pushed to them.” Let’s collectively keep that in mind.  (emphasis mine)

Here is an idea - why not start with the fact that consumers are not opting in before devising all sorts of technologies to place advertising when...

the backlash I immediately received from consumers was extreme: “I don’t want that on MY device, my highly personal device, my mobile phone.”

(hat tip: likateria)

Comments

[Zaw Thet]

Maria, you have some very valid points. I think the best mobile advertising will be in a similar form to web advertising. A consumer would never go to a web page where there is just an ad. They would go to a web page for content (and there may be targeted advertising next to that content). Similarly, I think the right philosophy for SMS advertising is to only send the ad when it is attached to a piece of content the user has requested (like a sports score, flight update, etc. ). Thanks, Zaw

[Maria Niles]

Thanks for your comment, Zaw, and for making the the comment I highlighted above about keeping the focus on consumers. And I agree, mobile advertising can be done in a way in which consumers will find acceptable and your suggestion for targeted SMS advertising sounds reasonable.

My head just explodes a little bit when I see marketers touting intrusive marketing methods just because the technology exists and then try to paint these methods as something that just need to be made "fun" and "engaging" in order for consumers to accept them.

Rarely will you find consumers asking you to serve them ads (except maybe while watching the Superbowl) but there are contexts such as you describe where consumers will willingly accept advertising in exchange for content they value. But better to try and understand consumer comfort levels first rather than developing the technology and figuring out how to foist it on consumers which was the overall feel I got from the article.

[Darren Scott]

Its all about an info. request service (no Push) and having the content the consumer requested go to them on-line and not on the Mobile Device. No Spam to Mobile phone, never unwanted TXT (SMS) messages. Use the mobile phone as a tool.

We have just launched www.primiro.com to solve the mobile content problem.. push vs. request-building brand trust.

Darren
CEO
Primiro