Mobile advertising takes flight in Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific - Mobile advertising is set to be the next wave in countries with high mobile penetration, according to a poll of 100 mobile phone users by Acision at the recent CommunicAsia 2007 event.

Respondents surveyed believe advertisers are looking to the mobile platform as a new channel through which to reach their target audiences and drive brand awareness, driven by its reach which is beyond that offered by more traditional TV and radio advertising in countries with high mobile ownership levels.

Acision's survey found that up to 71% of respondents receive text and multimedia advertisements on their mobile devices. Of that, 32% currently receive them at least once a week. Mobile phone ownership is already steadily growing in developing markets like India and China. In Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, mobile phone ownership is near full penetration.

"Global brands are looking to the mobile platform to reach out to an increasingly mobile, internet savvy customer who uses mobile services to make consumer purchases. Asians have always been very open to new mobile services, and mobile advertising looks set to be the next trend," Boudewijn Pesch, MD for Acision Asia Pacific said.

The survey also revealed that operators need to better understand their customer needs and preferences as more than a third of the respondents ranked ad customatisation as most important when subscribing to mobile advertising funded services.