Squaring the circle between m-commerce and marketing, mobile is the obvious choice to offer the best and most relevant and timely messaging. But marketers are failing to tap into this – and consumers are noticing – a study finds.
The research – ‘Mobile & Me – The Remodelled Brand Opportunity’ report, commissioned by Quantcast – explores the mobile behaviours and preferences of consumers in the UK, France and Germany and highlights the pressing need for advertisers to deliver more creative and relevant mobile advertising or risk losing consumer engagement entirely.
The study reveals that 37% of consumers expect adverts received on their mobile phones to be more relevant than on other devices; while 40% say that they wish mobile advertising was more creative. While among the much sought after 16-34 year old age range, expectations on both relevancy and creativity are even higher with 47% and 51% demanding more relevancy and creativity respectively
The study revealed that mobile advertisers are unknowingly interrupting ‘me-time’. Currently 51% of consumers find mobile adverts more intrusive than adverts received on their desktop or tablet. While almost half admit that advertising received on their mobile phones that is not relevant to them negatively impacts their overall perception of a brand – a frustration felt more acutely by 16-34 years olds (54%) than older generations.
Where’s the brand opportunity in the remodelled ‘me-time’? The findings emphasise that the mobile phone has evolved into the new ‘shopping catalogue’. 64% of consumers admitted they have been influenced to purchase elsewhere by mobile advertising – 80% among 16-34 year olds. On average respondents purchase goods or services on their mobile phones just over once a week, with 41% frequently researching purchases on their mobile phones.
If advertisers focus more on relevancy and creativity, they will be perfectly positioned to seize the mobile opportunity.
The study also reveals that 59% of consumers agree that they would be more accepting of mobile advertising if it was relevant to them.
A third of respondents stated they would be more likely to purchase from a brand that only showed them relevant advertising – an average that jumps to 43% among 16-34 year olds.
And Creative ads drive consumer influence for brands: a third of consumers admitted they would be increasingly influenced by more creative adverts – an average that reaches 48% among 16-34 year olds.
“By 2018, more time will be spent accessing the Internet on mobile devices than on all other devices combined. For advertisers, connecting with consumers while they are on their mobile phones is becoming a must-do, not a nice to do. But what our research shows is that the majority of brands are currently missing the mark with their mobile ads,” explains Matt White, UK Managing Director, Quantcast. “There is a huge pool of potential buyers behind those screens, but brands need to act now and appropriately engage with the mobile-generation by putting relevancy and creativity at the centre of their mobile strategies.”
