Founder of an Australian Mobile Startup Discusses the Status of Mobile Advertising in Australia - An Interview With Emily Freeman

Vishal Sharma of VS Consulting Group recently conducted an email based interview with Emily Freeman, founder of Mobilist, one of the emerging mobile consultants on the status of Mobile Advertising in Australia. According to the Frost & Sullivan 2008 report on the Australia Next-generation Mobile Advertising Market, in 2007, mobile advertising spend in Australia was AUD 2.5 million (approximately USD 2.4 million). This was largely made up of revenue earned by carriers & the major publishers. Frost & Sullivan predicts the revenues to grow to more than AUD 10 million (USD 8.8 million) in 2008.

Emily Freeman shares her thoughts on the key issues faced and the opportunities for the various stakeholders in the mobile advertising value-chain in Australia.

Excerpts from the interview:

According to Emily, the main issues with regard to mobile advertising in Australia are:

• awareness by advertisers of what is possible using the mobile channel
• inconsistent approaches to targeting and pricing of mobile advertising by operators/publishers makes implementation complex and time consuming
• confusion around data charging still limits mobile usage, although data costs are reducing
• consumer take up of 3G data services, but less of an issue in 2008 and beyond

She outlines the main opportunities that exist as:

• advertisers that take the time to learn about the channel now will reap the rewards later
• extending existing direct marketing campaigns to mobile
• better use of exceptional targeting capabilities in mobile, including mobile search
• integration of media planning to include mobile channel

Answering to how mobile operators in Australia taking advantage of mobile advertising as a revenue stream, Emily says that all of the Australian operators are exploring mobile advertising as a revenue stream, some more aggressively than others. In many cases mobile campaigns have been offered as part of a broader online/mobile package, in order to encourage advertisers to trial the mobile channel. Most will throw in a free ‘mobile campaign site’ with a media buy.

Vodafone has been the most proactive operator in Australia to date, having published a Mobile Advertising charter and rate card and offers a variety of ad products including mobile banner ads, sponsorships, campaign sites, push messaging and mobile TV sponsorship.

Telstra, through their advertising arm Sensis MediaSmart, has been delivering a variety of simple, banner based mobile advertising campaigns on the BigPond and Sensis mobile sites since running trials of mobile advertising capabilities in early 2007.

Both Vodafone & Telstra take a CPM based approach to mobile advertising, advertising rates between AUD 20 (USD 16.8) - AUD 75 (USD 62.8) CPM (cost per thousand impressions) to serve mobile banners across their mobile portal properties.

The other mobile operators such as Three has focused on integrated content/advertising packages, which they put together on a case by case basis, rather than delivering simple banners across their portal and Optus has conducted some small scale trial activity in mobile advertising but does not have a scalable commercial mobile advertising product in the Australian market.

Emily also lists down the various benefits that the key stakeholders - advertisers, publishers, operators and subscribers can gain from mobile advertising:

Opportunities for Advertisers (& their agencies)

• extending reach beyond traditional channels
• extremely targeted delivery of messages
• highly measurable campaigns and improved measurability of other advertising mediums
• accessing mobile users directly when they are out and about
• positioning as an innovative brand
• building deeper relationships with customers

Publishers

• ROI on the costs of publishing content
• offering users targeted, relevant messages from advertisers
• delivering free or subsidised services paid for by advertisers

Carriers

• delivering revenue and improved ROI on mobile networks
• funding delivery of more and better content services

Subscribers

• free or subsidised content and services which are paid for by advertisers
• access to targeted relevant messages from advertisers

Emily also advices those who are looking to use mobile as a platform for advertising to do research, get a second opinion and be informed, ask their agency to present examples of how mobile advertising has worked locally nsist that their media buyer knows about the mobile channel and present options, read her blog, follow her on twitter and join the “Mobile Advertising in Australia” Facebook group.

In the interview, Emily also discusses how advertising agencies and media planners are taking advantage of mobile advertising format in Australia. She also presents her views opt-in advertising and what the government should do to improve the culture of innovation and the Telecom industry.

To read this interesting interview with Emily Freeman, please visit this link: http://startups.sharmavishal.com/2008/09/interview-with-emily-freeman-status-of.html

If your are interested to read about the Frost and Sullivan "The Australia Next-Generation Mobile Advertising Market 2007-2011 Study", please visit this link: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19309/545/

About Emily Freeman
Emily has worked in marketing & product management for companies like Ernst & Young, Fairfax & Microsoft in the UK. A technology lover, in 1997, she managed CD-ROM products at Fairfax. In the dot com boom she worked as community manager for a startup and ended up in a  stable role at Sensis when the crash came. At Sensis sheI managed websites like Whereis Online and in 2004 she was offered the opportunity to develop Sensis’ first WAP products. After developing Sensis’ Mobile Advertising strategy in 2007 she decided to use her experience in her own venture. Emily formed Mobilist in 2007 and has been deeply involved in the mobile industry since then.

About Mobilist
Mobilist has been created to showcase Australian mobile content, and to help Australians find relevant local sites off the carrier deck. Mobilist also provides consultancy on mobile strategy, and services including mobile SEM and search, mobile advertising & marketing, product development and customer acquisition for mobile sites & campaigns.

Source: VS Consulting Group