Are you using an Android smartphone or an Apple iPhone? Okay… dumb question, I am 99.999% sure that whoever is reading this post owns a smartphone. But do you know the first smartphone actually made its debut in 1995, 15 years before the launch of the first ever iPhone? It was called the “Simon Personal Communicator” created by IBM (Tweedie, 2015).
The smartphone became popular in 2012, it allows you to use the Internet to browse the web, connect with friends online or through calls/texts, use of GPS technology as well as many other functions. As technology advances and social media platform started to take off, companies have been utilizing smartphone as a way to advertise their businesses. There are various mobile marketing tools companies can adopt such as mobile advertisements, mobile websites, mobile applications, mobile payments as well as location-based mobile marketing.
Mobile advertising as been evolving ever since 2014, companies have been making it a point to include mobile advertisements to create a seamless experience for the users as they are spending most of their time online in mobile applications. Mobile advertisers offer different types of advertisements such as interstitial (where advertisements are shown/played while page/browser is loading), overlay and video advertisements (Lynn, 2016).
Personally, my favourite type of advertisements got to be playable ads!!! I feel it leave the most lasting impression on me by interacting with me through mini games. For example, playable ads or mini games available in the ads features recognizable elements of the brand/company presented in a fun and accessible game play ((Bauer, 2018), I feel it is the most popular way for a brand/company to engage with the users and it improves brand recall. An example below is how W Hotels utilized playable ads to engage with users and also to promote the opening of the new hotel, W Bellevue in Seattle.
I think that mobile advertisers will continue to take over our screens and improve to offer even more engaging ads that will improve brand recall. What do you guys think?
References:
Bauer, J., 2018. Swipe Right On Gamified Advertising — Memorable Ads And Brand Awareness. [online] Medium. Available at: <https://medium.com/gameloft/swipe-right-on-gamified-advertising-memorable-ads-and-brand-awareness-26c9a756f79c> [Accessed 16 August 2020].
Lynn, N., 2016. The History And Evolution Of Mobile Advertising. [online] Gimbal. Available at: <https://gimbal.com/history-evolution-mobile-advertising/> [Accessed 16 August 2020].
Tweedie, S., 2015. The World’s First Smartphone, Simon, Was Created 15 Years Before The Iphone. [online] Business Insider. Available at: <https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-first-smartphone-simon-launched-before-iphone-2015-6#:~:text=Rob%20Stothard%2FGetty%20People%20didn,before%20Apple%20released%20the%20iPhone.> [Accessed 16 August 2020].
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Yes! I do agree that mobile marketing have been widely used nowadays. Whenever I open a social media application, an advertisement would pop up. Although it brings many advantages to the companies, I do think that some ads are offensive. I feel like companies should be more sensitive towards their advertisements..
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I strongly feel that way too! No matter what kinds of campaign a company create, it’s crucial to keep the audience and the cultural environment in mind. You risk releasing offensive ads if you don’t, causing the reputation of the company.
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I agree with your point of view, Mobile advertising is a cost-effective option for actively reaching a highly targeted audience and getting direct communication with the people who matter most to your brand. Now we will carry mobile phones with us, no matter where we are, advertising Series updates can be sent directly to the phone.
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Hey Enhui, glad you agreed with my POV on this topic, mobile marketing is definitely here to stay.
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I agree! I love playable ads, those compulsory ads that don’t allow you to skip, I’m able to pass time and play a mini game during the ad! Sometimes, if I enjoy the mini game, I’ll even download the game!
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Me too! I find some of the ads that could not be skipped extremely frustrating (esp Apple Watch ads now!)
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Hello Xiang Ying, mobile marketing is definitely here to stay. I find location-sensitive ads extremely intriguing and smart! I read an article somewhere that if you’re stranded in an airport because you missed a flight, nearby hotel ads will pop-up on your phone to prompt you to make a booking. How cool , huh!
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Wow I didn’t know that, that’s very cool but abit scary at the same time haha. The fact that your location and details of missed flight is made known to them to have them prompt these hotel ads is abit intrusive personally.
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Hello XiangYing, I totally agree! Mobile marketing is definitely the current “in” thing and playable ads really do leave a lasting impression. Some gaming apps have also created playable ads and made me download their app after just ~15s of playing from the ad. That shows that playable ads are definitely working as they’ve gotten the conversion which is their end goal. However, with the popularity of mobile marketing, do you think it could be a substitute for traditional marketing? Would love to hear your thoughts!
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Hey Huimin! Marketers rely heavily on data, which is why mobile marketing is superior to traditional marketing methods. You can see exactly how many people clicked on your social media ad or how many daily active users your app has. You can find out who those people are and what are their interests and behaviors.
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