TV Ads Making Way To Cellphone Users' Screens
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TV Ads Making Way
To Cellphones in Europe |
The practice of putting TV ads on cellphones is "finally happening [in Europe], and more phone companies are preparing to jump in," according to the WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Aaron Patrick Customers of Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 unit “began seeing free news, sports and entertainment videos a few months ago,” and the "short video clips are free and paid for entirely by advertisers.” For marketers, these ads are “more expensive based on the audience size” than traditional TV ads -- the 3 service charges roughly $141 for every 1,000 cellphone viewers who see an ad. California-based Rhythm NewMedia CEO Ujjal Kohli said that cellphone spots are “better at targeting an audience than TV ads because computers keep track of which ads people have seen and avoid repeats.” Patrick notes the system also uses customer age and gender “to better target the ads.” Meanwhile, Helsinki-based Blyk “plans to offer free mobile calls and text messages to 16- to 24-year olds -- if they're willing to receive ads on their phones.” Blyk CEO Pekka Ala-Pietilä said that the service starts this summer in Britain and will later be rolled out to continental Europe (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/5).
MULTI-TASKING: A Solutions Research Group study of almost 1,000 people showed that among viewers 12-34, 72% were “talking with someone via phone, e-mail, text messaging, or [IM] during the final game of the NBA Finals, and 66% of the same age group were communicating while watching” the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Out of viewers who were communicating via IM, text, or cell phone during either the NCAA Final, Game Four of the NBA Finals or final round of The Masters, 60% of them were “able to remember at least one specific advertisement they viewed during the game, compared with 46% among the viewers who did not partake in these activities during the game” (MULTICHANNEL.com, 7/3).
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