If mobile video isn't
the next big thing, it's legitimately one of them.
Driven by anticipated 3G network adoption and broad consumer interest, the number of mobile content
subscribers is expected to grow to 462 million worldwide over the next five years, according to ABI Research. IDC, meanwhile, has estimated the U.S. audience for mobile video at 25 million+ by 2011,
while Juniper Research projects mobile entertainment revenues to jump from $20 billion to $65 billion over the same period.
Advertisers and carriers alike have an opportunity to cash in--if they
embrace push technology. Push technology--that darling of an earlier era in Internet time--is back, and not a moment too soon.
Push delivery knocks down the few barriers that remain to the
popular embrace of mobile video--bandwidth, revenue generation and the user experience. And unlike the critical mass that has yet to form around 3G (push is here now.
It's a natural for carriers
and service providers. By pushing video content directly to the phone during off-peak hours and storing it there, network congestion, data transmission tariffs and other costs to carriers are reduced
significantly. Similarly, carriers benefit from new and predictable revenue streams through:
• Subscription services that generate sustainable income from existing content and customers. Revenue
is easily projected based on subscription models;
• Advertising and other cross-promotional opportunities, like click-to-buy options and a catalog of additional programming for purchase;
•
Easy cross-promotion with WAP services; and
• A new way to re-merchandise programming that carriers have already licensed through their broadcast and streaming content strategies.
Push
delivery is likewise a golden opportunity for service providers, who can help make the experience of consuming mobile media significantly more palatable--and thereby increase adoption rates.
Push is an even bigger win for advertisers, who gain increased consumer exposure to brands. When subscriber-selected content is pushed to--and stored on--a mobile phone for repeated play at the
consumer's convenience, brands benefit in major ways:
• Access to highly segmented, highly targeted audiences;
• Purchase, "for more information "and other high-touch options; and
•
Tracking and reporting of subscriber demographics, purchases, content choices, viewing habits and more.
So what's in it for the consumer? An experience unique to mobile. To a large degree, the
mobile experience to date has been a hand-me-down--a poor translation of the Web, an even poorer imitation of television. Push delivery liberates mobile because it gives the consumer a taste of what
mobile can, and should be. Without downloading, streaming, buffering and all the other technical limitations that take their toll on quality.
With its palpable benefits for carriers and
advertisers, push should to be understood as an established technology made new again--in the service of two audiences that stand to profit handsomely as mobile video takes hold.
And in the
interests of a third audience--the consumer--whose ultimate satisfaction will make the cash register ring for both.