The New York Times published a thought-provoking article (requires free log-in) on mobile phone ads. I’ve shared my thoughts on mobile advertising before, and as the debate rages on, I’m glad to continue to pitch in with my views.
The “new” idea is that consumers will accept ads in return for lower cost or free mobile phone service. Does anyone remember Juno or Cybergold? The problem with these services-for-ads programs is that the people they attract are the least likely to actually respond to the ads.
I know that a lot of people (most of whom are younger than me <grin>) have adapted to a regular stream of inbound SMS text messages from friends. Maybe they’ve developed the ability to check their phone while at the dentist, movies or business meetings, etc., such that they can readily ignore both personal text messages as well as ads. If this kind of behavior does not become mainstream, I suspect that ads simply will be too intrusive (because they will arrive when you are at the dentist, the movies and business meetings), and that people will take steps to ignore them.
Where I do think mobile marketing will shine is user-driven interactions: responding to billboards, signs, radio ads, TV shows, etc. Of course, this doesn’t solve the problem of mobile marketers that keep your telephone number and continue to SMS you every few days, like the one whose message I signed up for a few weeks back. Needless to say, the marketer has provided little information on how to keep from getting its ads (and yes, it has absolutely soured the brand in my mind).
I can’t wait to see how mobile marketing plays out. No matter which direction it goes, it’ll represent a fundamental change in how people live their lives and how they interact with the companies they depend on. My view is that this kind of change is always good even if there are some stumbles along the way.
I find SMS text messaging a perfectly viable way to communicate. (Yes, I am probably younger than you.) I had an argument over my boss the one day when one of my staff sent me an SMS to tell me he is not coming in. I thought it was a perfectly reasonable way to communicate this to me… but he thought it wasn’t. His take was that someone should always call… an SMS is simply not good enough.
I couldn’t quite understand this way of looking at it. I mean, the SMS tells exactly what I need to know and doesn’t take up much of my time at all.
Why I mention this is because, even someone like myself who regularly communicates with SMS, finds advertising a real pain. Especially when they send you messages late at night, or when you’re expecting a message from someone else etc. Usually, it’s just my network provider advertising (I really don’t like putting my cell phone number down for ‘promotions’ etc.)
Some of the malls here in my area have adopted a brilliant Bluetooth system where you can turn your Bluetooth on and receive messages of specials. This way, they don’t need your number, you just have to connect to their Bluetooth network. I think this is an excellent way of doing it – you don’t want the advertising, you switch Bluetooth off. As simple as that.
I tend to keep my Bluetooth off.
Talking about Mobile Phone advertising, I’ve noticed a tendency of service providers to ‘tag’ advertising onto their free services. One of our service providers here in SA has something called ‘please call me.’ It’s a free message you can send to someone, in case you don’t have air-time. But, they message is often tagged with some heavy advertising.
The worst has to be these services that advertise on TV, where you can SMS a number and get a ring tone or picture for your phone etc. Doing that is like inviting spam advertising on your phone! Not only that, but you end up sending a message to the service requesting a ring tone and they charge you for it. But then, they also charge you a monthly fee that you didn’t even sign up for! You’ve got to purposely send them another message to ‘cancel your subscription’ when you didn’t even subscribe! You just wanted the one ring tone.
Because of the sheer number of those kind of promotions, especially on TV, I am sure there is a LOT of money in it. There is a lot of money in competitions as well (and guess what? You enter a competition, and get bombarded with advertising too!)
Let me share my personal experiences related to this. Lately, there are more ads messages coming in than important text messages through my mobile phone. There was one time that an ad told me that I’ve just received a FREE ring tone along with some other ads pertaining to gigs and latest services of the network. Since the ring tone is for free, I accepted it. After a month, the tone keeps coming. Then one day, I loaded my phone with some amount. After a while a new ring tone came in. But when I tried to send a text message to my brother, I was informed that I have zero available balance. What the…? When I investigated the whole thing, I found out that the free tone was only free for a month and after a month every tone will be charged with some $$$. But I wasn’t informed about it. I think mobile ads in exchange for free or lowered network services are as worst as phone virus.
Advertising in mobile phones has gone a long way. Nowadays, companies advertise their services and products through contests done by sending text messages. Some softdrink companies for example, send ads through text to subscribers requesting them to join in their promo by sending codes via text. Some ads like horoscope, free ring tones, and the likes are very common nowadays. Still others include even biblical passages and inspiring quotes.
These are handy and helpful, yes. But some subscribers are annoyed. Say you are in the middle of a meeting and then your phone beeps. Thinking that it was an important message you hurried out of the room, excused yourself, and opened the message, only to find out that it was just a text ad/promo. Frustrating…
Well I was thinking what if the ads go with freebies like wallpaper, ringtones, and the likes which have expiration dates? That will surely attract EVERYBODY and not just the selected ones. This will not also require logging in or being opt in before one can view or join the ad.