- Ad Age, Thursday, March 9, 2006 10:30 AM
To be sure, those growth projections sound impressive, but what about mobile advertising? According to
Ad Age, advertising and cell phone-based content aren't mixing well--or even at all in
most instances--yet. Thus far, the big wireless content packages are all subscription based--primarily because of fears of a consumer backlash to advertising on the mobile phone, which many regard as
a more private place than say, the World Wide Web. As one media pundit said, "The day they put an ad on my cell phone I'm going to hand it back." It's that kind of reaction marketers are sensitive
to, which for the time being will keep them on the sidelines. Or maybe it's because they haven't been invited: companies like Fox Corp. and CBS Corp. are rolling out new video products with $4 and $6
per month price tags and no ads in sight. However, CBS suggests that invitations could be forthcoming: "we're creating a lot of things on the sly and advertisers need a lot longer lead time. It's
about getting the two development cycles aligned," said one CBS executive. He added that measurement and audience packaging are nonexistent, which means advertisers are going to have to wait until
that currency emerges. Even so, a new survey from Airwide Solutions suggests advertisers are chomping at the bit to get in front of consumers: 89 percent of major brands said they plan to advertise on
mobile phones by 2008, and more than half said they plan to spend between 5 and 25 percent of their budgets on mobile phones in the next five years.
Read the whole story at Ad Age »
