Tech guru Jean-Louis Gasse says the smartphone is a terrible place to advertise, at least using conventional display ad formats. 
For one thing, the screen is tiny. For another, the ads can be highly intrusive and annoying. (Not an emotion a smart advertiser wants to trigger in a potential customer.)

And he dismisses those who say the medium is still young. Mobile advertising is not “in its infancy”, he says, it’s now 17 years old.

And the smartphone version of it – the far more promising version – is now five years old and five years is a long time.”If it was going to work it would have done so by now,” said Henry Blodget on Business Insider.

It’s all rather a different take on what many see as a burgeoning and potentially multi-billion dollar industry.

Do you use mobile ads and do you see them as more or less effective than other channels? It’s a question that generated some good debate on the forum.

“The problem is with the word ‘advertising’, which gives it a negative connotation of push messaging,” said Piyush Aggarwal. “That’s  detrimental to any brand’s success.” He added that mobile ads may give scale but if it’s not backed by strong engagement, it can potentially backfire.

Tony Casso disagreed. “When done right, opt-ins, push marketing is both cost effective and bankable,” he said.

For John Nagelmakers talk of traditional push or pull marketing is out of pace in the mobile world. “The mobile market is a different medium and traditional advertising does not work,” he said.

“The current advertising companies are not thinking outside the box when it comes to the power of this format. With opt-ins, location based services and GPS co-ordinates – and add a touch of either retail sales or ‘act now’ savings coupons – this format can be very effective.”

Joan Liley thought mobile ads “are frankly annoying”. She said: “If I were attempting to promote on a mobile without alienating the consumer then I’d be more subtle and opt ins relevant to what you are doing at the time/location is a sensible way to gain acceptance.”

It was Fred Held who sought to place mobile as one of a communications smorgasbord.  “Mobile devices are part of a social network which includes all forms of computing. It is possible to design screens that are attractive and vibrant on nearly all smart phones,” he said.

“Advertising must move to engagement to really be effective. The sequence is to engage, provide content value and encourage sales no matter where the smart device may be located. If done well, brand loyalty goes up.

Traditional advertising is a waste of money on smart phones and tablets. Engagement, valued information and invitation to buy is where it is at.”

Do you see mobile ads as “frankly annoying” or are they the way to go as a location-based, highly targeted way to woo customers in?

To discuss this and other articles please visit The Business Technology Forum group on LinkedIn.

Comments are closed.