Mobile marketing spend to hit 13.5bn by 2015 – Berg Insight

Mobile marketing and advertising is set to grow at an annual rate of 41pc to increase from €1.7bn in 2009 to €13.5bn in 2015, according to new research from Berg Insight.

By 2015, it will account for 15.7pc of the total digital advertising market or 3.4pc of the total global ad spend for all media.

Berg Insight said the mobile channel is becoming an integral part of the marketing media mix, “a progress that is eased by the increasing habitual mobile media consumption exercised by consumers”.

“Handsets are extremely personal devices which people tend to always have within reach and most often switched on. This enables marketing opportunities which other channels lack”, said Rickard Andersson, telecom analyst, Berg Insight.

The company said mobile marketing is adopted by an increasing amount of companies of all sizes and the budgets now devoted to the mobile channel are substantial.

“Brands do however have to establish mobile strategies in order to spend wisely and capitalise on the potential the channel brings”, said Andersson. He added that mobile components can be beneficially integrated in campaigns that also span traditional media.

Berg Insight anticipates that the convergence between traditional web and mobile advertising will continue as the technological capabilities of PCs and handsets merge. It said advertising actors that can master both channels will be well positioned to be successful in the combined digital advertising industry spanning all types of devices.

“Corporations such as Google and Microsoft openly aspire for market leadership in competition with among others Nokia, Yahoo! and Ericsson. Apple is a newcomer on the advertising scene and advantageously equipped to monetise the vast amount of free apps in the App Store through its iAd platform for in-app advertising.”