• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, June 16, 2011

This week InsightExpress Senior Director Joy Liuzzo passed along the latest cross-platform comparative stats regarding mobile campaign brand lift vs. Web lifts. Studying more than a thousand online campaigns and over 100 mobile campaigns between November 2007 and December 2010, the mobile metrics just crush the Web. Mobile campaigns consistently showed 2x to 3X better performance in unaided awareness (8% v. 3%); aided awareness (8% v. 4%); ad awareness (23% v. 8%); message association (14% v. 4%); brand favorability (8% v. 3%); and purchase intent (11% v. 3%). 

Even more encouraging than the clearly favorable metrics for mobile brand impact is its trajectory over time. In most brand metrics except for brand favorability, the overall results have improved in the 2009-2010 period. We can only speculate on the reason for this, but I have to assume we are seeing the combined effects of increase smartphone penetration and much better creative and follow-through experience on the part of brands advertising in the space.  

For brands, their mileage may vary according to the segment they serve. For instance, in the product categories, consumers seem to like having entertainment brands advertising on their phones, or at least that category produces the greatest purchase intent lift (14%) over CPGs (10%) and auto (7%) and electronics (7%). Interestingly, though, it is the packaged goods category that has the most message association impact (16%).  On the services side, the massive presence of telecoms on the mobile marketing platform is having an effect in message association (28%) and purchase intent (21%), although it can't beat back the ongoing dissatisfaction many feel with carriers, since the lift in brand favorability after exposure for telecoms is the lowest of the segments, at 5%.

But what have we learned about what works on the creative side? Joy and her team did find some patterns here, and while none is surprising, they are all worth remembering.  

Follow the no-squinting rule. In such a diminutive format as a mobile banner, shorter obviously is better, and the initial messaging that ran between 5 and 16 words worked best, although I have to imagine the higher end of that copy range has to be reserved for rich and larger units. There is nothing more ruinous to a mobile ad than making the user squint.