Limbo’s Quarterly Study Reveals that Mobile Advertising Industry Passes Landmark Threshold, Largely Driven by Text-based Ads
BURLINGAME, Calif. – Limbo, one of the largest mobile social networks in the US, and GfK Technology, a leading market research agency, released their latest joint Mobile Advertising Report (MAR). The third quarter report reveals that mobile advertising awareness grew 33 percent in nine months against a backdrop of six percent growth in cell phone usage. This suggests an increased allocation of advertising dollars to mobile formats through the first nine months of the year.
“In economic slowdowns, advertisers typically divert budgets from branding media to direct marketing channels and it appears that mobile media is benefiting from this in 2008,” says Limbo CEO Jonathon Linner. “Mobile offers advertisers a way to reach their core audience in an interactive and cost-effective medium. We anticipate these numbers will continue to grow as more and more advertisers experience firsthand the benefits of mobile advertising.”
Nearly four out of ten Americans with a cell phone (104 million) recall seeing advertising on the device between July and September 2008. This is the first time the number of Americans aware of mobile advertising has exceeded 100 million in a 3-month period. The most commonly viewed ads were in text messages – 60 million consumers recalled seeing text message-based ads – an increase of 42 percent in nine months. Mobile Web advertising also grew strongly, but with 31 million people recalling this format, it has about half the reach of text messaging ads.
The profile of people recalling mobile advertising offers few surprises:
* 57 percent male, 43 percent female
* 52 percent are between 35-64 years of age, 28 percent are aged 50 and above and just 43 percent are under 34
* Their ethnic profile is also similar to the US population – 68 percent Caucasian, 20 percent African American and 12 percent Hispanic
“The US is the world’s dominant advertising market but has traditionally been behind Asian and European markets in terms of consumer use of mobile devices. The latest Mobile Advertising Report shows that US consumers are accelerating their use of the mobile device and advertisers are hot on their tails, using the new medium to reach consumers in pioneering ways,” says Colin Strong, head of Mobile Communications Research at GfK Technology.
About the Mobile Advertising Report
The Limbo-GfK Technology Mobile Advertising Report is a tool used to help marketers and their agencies understand the fast-changing mobile advertising medium. The report is produced quarterly and is distributed free to marketers. The Q3 2008 report is based on a survey of 1,000 representative American adults and 1,000 UK adults interviewed by telephone.
To receive a copy of the full report, as well as future editions, send your request to mar@limbo.com.
About Limbo
Limbo (www.limbo.com), founded in 2005, is the largest, fasted growing mobile community, with three million passionate members and a monthly reach of over five million people. Limbo makes life more social by giving us more from our mobile phones: more friends, more fun, more connections. Limbo is free for everyone to use and is paid for by innovative mobile advertising formats. The award-winning, privately held company, headquartered in Burlingame, Calif., is backed by three of the world’s top venture capital funds: Azure Capital Partners (www.azurecap.com), Draper Fisher Jurvetson (www.dfj.com), and New Enterprises Associates (www.nea.com).
About GfK Technology
With a global team of over 200 research professionals in 40 countries, GfK Technology is a leading provider of tailored consumer and business related research services to the Technology, Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment industries. As these sectors continue to converge and evolve, the opportunities for the industry players are huge. But they face many challenges – increasingly complex markets; new types of competition; and the need to carefully manage growth and diversification. At the same time, consumers and businesses are becoming more demanding, sophisticated and influential in the way that they choose, buy and use technology, data and content – increasingly on the move.
To find out how GfK Technology can help you meet these challenges and exploit new opportunities, visit our website at www.gfknop.com/technology.
