Partner Article

Mobile advertising: the future is right here

A fair part of my working day is spent travelling, often on public transport, so I’m always taking an interest in my surroundings. As a media consultant, my attention is usually drawn to the many adverts that appear on the buses, tubes and trains.

As any advertising professional knows, a good advert is one that gets the reader’s attention, draws them in and engages them. It’s the last point that is proving increasingly challenging. Like many other commuters, I will glance at the adverts, have the odd chuckle if it’s amusing and then return to my Smartphone or iPad. The chances that I remember the advert let alone recall it later when I step off the train or bus are slim.

For advertisers, engaging consumers is by far the most critical aspect, particularly as new digital media creates a far more compelling distraction. Yet ironically, the advent of digital media also holds the answer to how advertisers can truly interact with consumers in real time. It’s staring me in the face – my Smartphone and iPad.

The Smartphone and iPad are essential tools if you live your life in the always connected, on demand society. For advertisers, these devices are a portal through which they can communicate their messages, offerings and services. The killer app is well – an app, a tailored, precise piece of engineering that bring the messages, offerings and services to life.

We’re currently working with a number of clients and advertising agencies to develop interactive apps to support specific campaigns and promotions. The success of these campaigns lies in the simplicity of their execution. We incorporate a QR (Quick Response) code into the print advert which, when scanned with a Smartphone or iPad, launches an interactive app right on your Smartphone or iPad that draws the audience ever more into the promotion. The app can be created in a short period of time and deployed rapidly, allowing advertisers the ability to focus the campaigns and tailor them precisely to the audience they are trying to reach. In the context of an advertising campaign, creating the apps is affordable and economical and it makes for a more efficient and effective promotional platform.

Advertising is about getting a response, whether that is emotive or otherwise but fundamentally, an advert is a call to action. In todays on-demand, always connected world, apps cannot be viewed as some standalone, isolated novelty. Rather, they are an integral part of any advertising campaign for the simple reason that they are concise and precise. For advertisers, incorporating apps into their campaigns taps into the needs and expectations of the Smartphone, iPad and App generation and makes the call to action that much more instantaneous, engaging and entertaining. The future of mobile advertising is staring me in the face and it fits neatly in the palm of my hand.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Red C .