The mobile advertising industry has become consumed by short-term hurdles and must focus on long-term strategic issues if it is to become a truly multi-billion dollar industry, according to the latest report from business intelligence group Informa Telecoms and Media.
In its recently published mobile advertising paper, Informa forecasts that the global mobile advertising market will be worth US$12.1bn by 2013, up significantly on the $1.7bn estimated for 2008.
"The mobile content market is creating the mobile advertising opportunity, while the big brands remain sceptical about the return on investment that will justify the premium rate card already associated with this emerging medium," commented the author of the report, Nick Lane.
"The situation will change, but the plethora of companies looking to get a slice of the revenues must remain patient. Releasing the big brands‚ spend is key to unlocking the potential of mobile advertising."
The report claims the majority of early-adopter big brands are yet to transfer more than 0.5 per cent of their advertising budget onto mobile. While this is, in part, down to the much-maligned issues of non-existent measurement and premium pricing associated with early formats of mobile advertising, the report argues that these are short-term hurdles.
"There is an absence of innovation in mobile advertising that has enabled the industry to accept internet-based models devoid of the functionality and capability that mobile technology delivers," Lane continued.
"True mobile advertising does not exist today; what we are referring to is ‘advertising on mobile.’ When mobile advertising combines user profiling, location and communication with unique mobile inventory, the industry can justify charging a premium rate over existing immeasurable advertising channels."
