Compete Blog: Smartphone Owners - A Ready and Willing Audience

Still limited adoption, and way too many applications that are NOT being used. A shakeout is coming.

Mark Johnson, President and CEO, Loyalty 360

Consumer advertising on Smart Phones will become mainstream only when consumers perceive the practical benefits for themselves vs. the perception that such activity is really only benefiting the advertiser, and not the consumer.

David Biernbaum, Senior Marketing and Business Development Consultant, David Biernbaum Associates

Mobile advertising will reach mainstream status when advertisers provide valuable services to consumers, rather than pushing advertising to them or when advertisers offset the cost of mobile phone service by paying consumers to watch ads.

Traditional push advertising won't work. To be effective, an advertiser must offer something that the consumer finds valuable: information, entertainment or financial reward.

Max Goldberg, Founding Partner, The Radical Clarity Group

Retailers have to do something to engage consumers on their smart phones YESTERDAY, not 3-5 years from now.

Whether it's targeted promotions or something related to loyalty, the alternative is dark...endless price shopping, and turning your store into a showroom, that will be used to select the item that they immediately purchase online from your competitor.

Having said that, mass advertising will be even less successful on the phone than it is on TV in a post-DVR world.

Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner, RSR Research

This may be partly a generational issue. I admit I really like having a smart phone that has all my contacts, information relating to my last contact with them (calls and emails), the ability to send and receive emails, etc. But I don't want to get advertising on it. I get enough unwanted content at the office via spam; I don't need it on my phone.

Steve Montgomery, President, b2b Solutions, LLC

I'm with Steven Montgomery on this one. For those who know me, no surprise there, I'm sure.

Warren Thayer, Editor & Managing Partner, Frozen & Dairy Buyer

It is striking to me how low all of those "would you like X?" survey answers are. It shows that no one has hit upon the right model yet. If I think about Google Search ads, and what makes them special, it is that they are unobtrusive and feel like additional information. Google's black box and their bidding process ensure that served ads are generally relevant. They come off as content, not spam.

In mobile, I haven't seen anyone that hits on that model yet. I don't think it's a scannable coupon for 25 cents off Tide (like I'm going to remember that, pull it up on my device, and hand it to the checkout person at the supermarket, all for $0.25?) But I can imagine applications: I scan a bar code in store and see peer reviews of the item, with some "featured" based on relevance and ad money. Or, I'm walking down the street searching for a restaurant and Chili's pops up on my map with a logo (and maybe an offer?).

Check out Best Buy's new mobile pitch video, if you haven't seen it, to see folks who are really thinking through these issues.

Jonathan Marek, Senior Vice President, Applied Predictive Technologies

Mobile advertising is already there, at least in terms of the audience. The problem is that the advertisers still think in "old media" terms and use this medium accordingly. It's time to change our thinking and make relevance and usability a key point. That's NOT a 25 cent coupon for Tide.

There has to be a focus on adding real value to the shopper; much like an app, she needs to have a reason to engage with you. Just dumping an ad or coupon onto a mobile device won't cut it.

Jeff Weidauer, VP Marketing, Vestcom International, Inc.

Mobile advertising is already playing an important role in corporate brands. Without a doubt it's still in its infancy, however, don't doubt for a second that it's coming. For example, SmartReply.com is delivering over 30 million mobile ads/month to OPTED-IN consumers who have agreed to receive ads from brands, along with their requested mobile content. Google and Apple did not invest a combined $1B to acquire mobile ad networks on the "hope" that mobile advertising will play a mutually beneficial role for brands and consumers. It will.

It's easy for late adopters or naysayers to sit on the sidelines and be critical right now about mobile advertising, however, those thousands of companies that are "Built to Last" like P&G, Coke, etc, have been utilizing mobile and mobile advertising for years. They are convinced by the early returns and continued customer enthusiasm that mobile advertising will be a critically important channel for them to the extent P&G is re-allocating tens of millions of ad dollars away from traditional media into mobile and social media in 2010.

We're living in the middle of a paradigm shift in the way we live and market. It's time for brands and marketers to integrate what works best in a traditional world of marketing & advertising, and embrace what's new on the "other" side with mobile, social, and digital. You'd be amazed at the positive results and tremendous consumer receptivity. Don't be afraid to reach out to your agencies and digital media providers for help and strategic guidance.

Mike Romano, President, SmartReply Mobile, Social & Digital Marketing

This is a situation where you have to give to get. You want access to my smartphone? It's going to cost you. And 10 percent off isn't going to do it. Freebies are the way into someone's smartphone case....

Doron Levy, President, TheMortgageMachine.ca

Up until recently, I would have said that I did not anticipate receiving offers on my smartphone any time soon. I may still agree with that from a traditional CPG perspective but from a retail/hospitality perspective have changed my mind. Through opt-in websites such as scoutmob and groupon, offers are being made available that are emailed or pushed to my smartphone that I find relevant -- a good way to save the consumer money and drive revenue for the retailer or restaurant.

Harris Fogel, President, Americas, Quofore

The problem with "Mobile Advertising" is partly semantic: it's not just about advertising. The opportunity in mobile marketing is in permission-based relationship marketing. The examples Harris cites above are all opt-in driven as opposed to so much of advertising which is simply "targeted" to likely customers or prospects.

Mobile marketing is here--it's been "arriving" for years and it is not going away. What is going away is the practice of mobile marketing following traditional advertising models and mindsets!

Phil Rubin, CEO, rDialogue