London – Affable Digital has announced the results of its Mobile Advertising Insight Survey (ADMIS 2014) a global poll of 120 senior decision makers at media agencies and brands such as Unilever, Nestle, Diageo, Rolex and Audi. The report focuses on the immediate future of mobile advertising, and the potential role of mobile network operators in the space.
The headlines:
- 59% of brands are seeing their mobile budgets grow by over 25% while 20% will see it double this year
- The majority (57%) are unsatisfied with their current mobile strategy citing
- Mobile’s ubiquity as a barrier to understanding its role
- A lack of quality data (78% say mobile advertising is lacking quality data)
- 92% believe new data sources will be increasingly important going forward, and 89% are prepared to pay a premium for better targeting
- 73% of respondents believe operators have a key role to play in the future of mobile advertising
- 58% believe growing audiences in emerging markets are key to their success moving forward.
The report found creative constraints are no longer an issue for advertisers in the mobile space with a lack of full understanding of mobile and the lack of quality data that powers the targeting seen as more of an issue. It also shows mobile marketing budgets are continuing to grow rapidly as the global economy moves on from years of austerity.
Affable Digital Director Ryan Afshar said: “While it is inevitable that marketers will better understand mobile over the coming years, data fuelled targeting is a fundamental infrastructure element that needs to be fixed. The survey is telling us that with mobile budgets increasing dramatically despite the insufficient targeting available, there is a huge revenue opportunity for operators to play a significant role in the advertising ecosystem. The media industry would not only pay huge premiums for better data targeting capabilities, they are also openly welcoming of operators getting into the space.”
Afshar added: “However, it is important that operators focus on understanding the demand from the media industry. Although one of the obvious USPs of mobile is hyper-location targeting, ADMIS 2014 also looked at what kind of data is needed by the media industry. While it is true there is demand for the more advanced types of targeting, the industry is still crying out for accurate demographic data.”
With the mobile advertising industry set to see annual spend go beyond $95bn by 2018 (source: eMarketer), the momentum within the industry suggests now is an excellent time for mobile operators to build and scale their advertising businesses.
The full report is available for download here.
About Affable Digital
Affable Digital is a mobile advertising consultancy focused on building and accelerating new revenue streams for companies that are not typically recognised as media owners.
The three founding members of Affable Digital have experience at some of the world’s leading media, advertiser, technology and mobile operator brands. They enable mobile operators and technology partners to realise the full potential of their data and digital assets by bridging the gap with the advertising and media industry. They deliver optimal results for their partners through the cross-pollination of skills, knowledge, insights and ideas from a variety of disciplines. They are able to advise and support partners at all stages of their business; from strategic planning through to launch, or acceleration of a current proposition.
