BANFF – Advertisers are more excited about the mobile sphere than the Internet, according to Paul Burns, director of IPTV mobile broadband at Sympatico MSN.
One of the most surprising findings of the ongoing Mobile Media Lab, which launched about a month ago and will wrap up this July, is the degree of interest by advertisers in this new space, he told Cartt.ca, after the “How to Build a Viable Mobile Business in 2008” panel at the nextMEDIA conference on Saturday in Banff.
“The excitement and enthusiasm is unprecedented,” Burns stated. “There’s a thirst for knowledge by advertisers in this area. Can they target Blackberry users in the GTA, for example?”
The Mobile Media Lab grew out of advertisers wanting to know more about how their brand could fit in the mobile world.
The goal of the project, involving ten of Canada’s leading brands including McDonald’s Canada, is do collective research and help companies with their mobile activities. Part of that research included looking at how Canadians perceive digital media.
The research showed that mobile devices can help communities form, Canadians and not companies are paying to use mobile devices, and that costs are higher in Canada.
One roadblock to mobile growth in Canada has been the price – Canadians are paying 40% to 60% more in wireless fees than customers in Europe or the United States, noted fellow panelist Mark Ruddock, Viigo president and CEO. But he added the mobile industry is still growing 50% year over year in Canada.
Burns wouldn’t reveal the cost of the Mobile Media Lab project.
“We’re not doing it to make money, but to help ignite the industry. Sometimes you never know if something will be successful until you try it,” he said. “Companies are looking to get their brands in this space.”
And the advertisers may have found a willing audience.
“Mobile is the only medium that I’ve ever come across where the consumer wants advertising,” said M:Metrics Inc. president and CEO Will Hodgman in his “Sizing up the Mobile Entertainment Industry in 10 Minutes or Less” speech.
Burns concurred: “We’ve noticed that mobile users don’t mind advertising; the brand can add value by providing free content.”
Viigo’s Ruddock pointed to new technology that embeds into voice mail and will deliver ads based on the message left. People can then listen to their message for free, if they also listen to the ad.
He said he’d rather pay for voice mail than have to listen to ads. But he joked that his son prefers to hear the ads – especially if they are interesting – than have to pay for voice mail.
“The younger you are the less willing you are to pay for something on your phone,” noted Ruddock. “As these young people grow up, it will be interesting to see if this trend shifts to an older demographic.”
Burns noted that advertising is beginning to target cell phone users, based on where they are located and their known likes.
GestureTek Inc. president and co-founder Vincent John Vincent, for example, pointed to a deal his company has with large Japanese telco NTT DoCoMo. The DoCoMo phones have GPS on them, so when cell phone users come up from the subway, there can be a map of the area on their phone. The phone can also tell them where to find their friends.
And Viigo has developed an application that could let cell phone users know that the shop on the corner they’re on has the 32” flat screen TV they’ve been looking for on sale.
With more speed and better phone plans, more than advertising is migrating to the mobile sphere.
GestureTek is developing technology where the phone is becoming like a remote. The company’s application allows users to play games and access information without pushing any buttons; the cell phone camera helps the phone know what to do by the way the phone is tilted.
The phone itself becomes the joystick, said Vincent, noting that the technology has moved from PlayStations to the mobile world.
GestureTek’s deal with DoCoMo includes supplying the technology that allows maps of an area to be enlarged or surveyed simply by moving the phone. Other applications, such as games and navigating the web, can also be accessed without pushing buttons.
And Viigo’s new Project Tango is aimed at humanizing the smart phone experience by making content easy to access.
A new deal Viigo has with the Canadian Football League, which is due to be announced next week, Ruddock said, will bring real-time football stats to phones. People will also be able to buy CFL tickets through their phone, and engage in talks with fans of the opposing team.
Burns summed it up by saying advertisers want to tap into the mobile world because they can reach people based on where the phone users are, and what they say they want.
Norma Reveler is in Banff this week covering NextMedia and the Banff International Television Festival.
