Mobile Facts
If you’re wondering how big the mobile marketing businessis, and is predicted to be, here are some figures to help
you get a fix on it. in June 2006. According to Jupiter, only 32% of European
mobile users are willing to pay for mobile content and
services beyond basic messaging.
• Mobile marketing and advertising was worth a total of
US$255 million in the US and Europe in 2005, but will growto exceed US$1 billion by 2009, according to a May 2006
report from Visiongain.
• SMS will remain a key revenue driver for the messaging
market globally for the next five years, despite growth in
enhanced messaging, according to a December 2005 report
from Informa Telecoms & Media.
• Mobile Ticketing and Mobile Retail Services will generate
over US$63 billion worth of revenue by 2010, according to
a report released in January 2006 by Juniper Research,
The report says that by 2010, 87 million European mobile
users (15% of the total), and 32% of Japanese mobile
users, will be using their mobiles to buy tickets, and that
worldwide mobile payment revenues will reach over US$10
billion by 2010.
• Figures released in November 2005 by Informa Telecoms
& Media predict that the number of 3G subscribers will rise
more than 10-fold by the end of the decade, from 70 million
at the end of 2005, to 797 million by 2010.
• According to Cellular Online there were 2 billion mobile
users globally in April 2006, including 160 million in the
US and 343 million in Europe. The No.1 mobile country
was China, with 300 million users.
• According to Cellular Online 235 billion SMS messages
were sent globally in the first quarter of 2006, an average
of 36 texts per mobile user per month. • According to the UK Direct Marketing Association, mobile
marketing was worth £26 million in the UK in 2005.
• According to the analyst, Informa Telecoms & Media,
global revenues from mobile data services totalled
US$102.1 billion in 2005.
What is Mobile Marketing?
-In February 2006, Canadian mobile phone network
TELUS Mobility launched a $1,000 text & win promotion.
Customers text the word ‘TRIVIA’ to the short code
835873. Customers win one entry into the promotion
for each trivia question answered, or 10 entries for
each question answered correctly. Each month, one
winner is selected from all the entries received to win
a cash prize of $1,000.
-In March 2006, US TV network Court TV launched a text
& win competition, offering viewers a chance to win
$10,000. The competition, called The Impossible Heists
Code Cracking Challenge, ran off the back of a reality
TV show called Impossible Heists. It invited consumers
to text their answers to three trivia questions to a short
code. Consumers who answered all three questions
correctly could then enter a code for their chance to
win $10,000.
-In the US, Starbucks launched a game, Starbucks
Summer Pursuit, to celebrate the arrival of summer
(2006). The game was a text messaging trivia quiz which
invited consumers to answer three questions, all on
the theme of summer, sent to their phone. Those who
got enough answers correct had the chance to play the
“Ultimate Scavenger Hunt” in New York City, and
compete for a trip to Costa Rica.
-In a text & win campaign, mobile is used as the response
mechanism. But mobile is increasingly being used as
a response mechanism in more generic campaigns, as
brands include a mobile short code on their TV, radio,
press or billboard advertising. In some instances, when
the consumer texts the required word to the short code
number, they receive a WAP-push message which
enables them to visit a WAP site dedicated to the brand
or the promotion in question. Here they may have the
opportunity to find out more about the brand, or receive
some form of incentive, such as a ringtone or wallpaper
for their phone.
