The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has sent out a clear message to advertisers regarding their existing approach to mobile advertising.
The trade body feel that a distinction should be made between mobile as a separate medium entirely and mobile purely as an add-on to digital.
They have criticised the ‘one size fits all’ approach which seems to have taken hold within the industry.
The IAB have also suggested advertisers should keep mobile ad campaigns simple but creative, while urging them to use the ads to actually “do something” rather than simply “say something.”
Amit Kotecha, Networks and Mobile Manager at the IAB, suggests that there is a clear link between the budget that agencies have and the potential to be adventurous in terms of what they create.
“The more budget agencies have the more creative they can be. There’s definitely a greater opportunity to build branding on mobile, but the industry’s lacking case studies so creativity will come with experience.
“The more mobile campaigns (which are) executed, then the more data there is to collate and from that agencies can learn what works.”
The report is designed to enable agencies to “get under the skin of mobile” and, ultimately, deliver more creative mobile strategies for clients.
A survey undertaken by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) found that SMS marketing campaigns were among the most successful of all mobile ad mediums.
The use of SMS short codes (e.g. text ‘YES’ to 80806), for example, are proven to significantly increase response rates to advertising campaigns.
The IAB have suggested the marketing and advertising budgets for mobile devices could be set to increase significantly in the next few years.
Initial projections suggest the total advertising/marketing spend on mobile devices will reach £1 billion in the UK by 2015. That figure could reach £4.3 billion in Western Europe.
‘Creative but simple’ seems to be the motto which the IAB have adopted in relation to this issue. It remains to be seen whether the advertisers which this message is aimed at will take heed of the advice to a sufficient extent.
