The 30 seconds commercials seen on tv or the printed page on newspaper enticing you to buy hand phones. Those are advertisements you see daily. Companies want to advertise these products, where the call to action is to buy the products/services. According to dictionary.com, advertising is defined as, the act or practice of calling public attention to one’s product, service, need, etc., esp. by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc.: to get more customers by advertising.
In the past, the main and most common advertising platforms were newspaper, magazines, radio and television. These platforms are also known as traditional advertising. However there is a shift from traditional advertising to online advertising, mobile advertising and even product placement as part of advertising. We all know about online advertising, and it is visible on social media sites like facebook, twitter and habbo. There is also the annoying advertisement banners and pop-ups. It has become like the normal advertisements seen on television/newspapers that we start to tune it out.
However, the power of mobile advertising should not be underestimated. Some example of mobile advertisements are SMS/MMS advertising and WAP banner advertisements. To me these advertisements are annoying as I feel it is intrusive, the fact that these advertisements are shoved into my face. Now, I tune out advertisement received through sms/mms. However with technology changing, new and more effective mobile advertising could take place using location-based mobile advertising.
Imagine you are walking around the shopping malls in town, on a shopping trip. Suddenly you receive sms advertisement informing you about a sale going on a few metres from your location. That is just perfect! Essentially, mobile advertising is about delivering content that is relevant to the consumer and the location of the consumer. Relevant information will not be tuned out and sometimes, consumers might even appreciate the information given.
With web phones on the rise, location based mobile advertising could be made easier. One example would be iPhone’s Google-powered Maps application, where a sponsored link would appear. So for example when you search KFC on the google maps, a sponsored link will appear; an advertisement for KFC location near you. Should location based mobile advertising be fully utilised,a prediction by The Kelsey Group (a market research firm) that the mobile advertising market will balloon to $3.1 billion in 2013 with the rise of Web phones might just come true.
The main issue with advertisements now is that people tune it out because they are so used to it, or it is not of relevance to them. Since people always have their phones with them 24/7, I think we will see more of location-based mobile adverting in the future. Or advertisers could turn to quirky ways to attract attention for their advertisements? :p
Video advertisements on the armpits o:
