KEY POINTS:
What have you been doing in New Zealand?
I'm participating in a conference being held by The Hyperfactory. It has pulled together agencies, marketers and people from the industry to share best practices on mobile marketing and advertising, and the industry in general.
What kind of potential
is there for marketing on mobiles, and do users like it?
The potential is huge and global. We see it as a big opportunity, although we understand that right now it's in its infancy. People are experimenting and finding out what is working for them. I think people need to be thoughtful in the way they approach marketing on a mobile phone. From some of our early experiments with advertising based on text and search, we have found it has been accepted by the consumer. We know because they are clicking on the ads.
Is this type of marketing better targeted and more sophisticated than others?
You are targeting a person at the moment of relevance or transaction. In some of the good case studies we see people using "click-to-call" phone numbers. They can look for something on their mobile phone, then dial directly from the ad. Our technology also means you can call through to that person. This has been great for local businesses. We see good results when people are optimising websites for mobile phones. People need to experiment and figure out what's best for their business and marketing needs.
Is it ensuring that an online presence is taking the new technology into account?
It's about a couple of things. You have to assess how it integrates with a mobile marketing strategy. There are a lot of ways you can do that - there's a host of mobile advertising opportunities. Mobile advertising can be that link in the "engagement factor".
Is it a chicken-egg situation where the development of handsets and better phones gives opportunities to marketers, or is it them pushing the technology?
In the US, the iPhone is leading the way when it comes to people accessing the mobile web. We've seen tremendous spikes in traffic to our search engine based on people coming in from iPhones.
Are people looking for different things when they access the internet from a phone?
It mirrors the internet a lot. People are averaging two-and-a-half key words when they search, everything from tomatoes to Porsches. One of the misnomers is people are only searching on their phones for mobile content. That is a big category but they are searching for everything else as well. This is why marketers and advertisers need to look at this as a viable way of reaching different consumers and their target audience.
With all the different types of phones, is it difficult to get a common standard?
It can be challenging for the phone people and marketers. Marketers and advertisers who have to develop campaigns have to deal with a lot of operating systems and handsets to ensure the work. It is fragmented but it is one of the challenges and why you have to understand the different options.
Is the convergence everyone talks about going to happen first on phones rather than in the home?
It's happening in places such as India and China. People there are using their phones as their "first screen" [after TVs and computers], whereas in developed countries it is the "third screen". They watch TV and do all of their communication on mobiles.