Mobile advertising: performance 2007/08
We said:
We would conduct consumer research and publish global guidelines on mobile advertising by March 2008.
We have:
Launched mobile advertising in 11 markets
We have launched mobile advertising in Australia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. A further five operating companies will launch mobile advertising in 2008/09.
| Local operating company | Type of mobile advertising offered | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search | Mobile Internet | Content | Messaging | Opt-In Database | |
| Australia | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Czech Republic | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Egypt | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Germany | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Greece | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Ireland | Y | Y | |||
| Italy | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Netherlands | Y | ||||
| Portugal | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Spain | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| UK | Y | Y | |||
Surveyed consumers on attitudes towards mobile advertising
We commissioned research in eight of our markets in 2007/08 to see how consumers react to a range of mobile advertising models. The studies show that in general consumers find banner advertising on the internet portal of their mobile phone acceptable. However, they want to see a benefit in exchange for exposure to more intrusive advertising such as text messages.
In October 2007, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) – an industry body chaired by Vodafone in Europe – surveyed a total of 1,525 consumers on mobile marketing and advertising in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The survey found that 15% of mobile phone users in these countries have experience with mobile marketing. An average of 44% of users is interested in mobile phone marketing – ranging from 31% in Germany to 61% in Spain. Most of those expressing interest would be likely to opt-in to marketing deals in order to receive benefits, such as mobile coupons, downloads, account status alerts and information about special offers. Getting up-to-date information is seen as one of the major benefits of the service. The main barriers to acceptance are lack of interest, concerns about intrusive advertising and cost.
Vodafone Romania commissioned research in December 2007 to explore consumer acceptance of a range of advertising formats. The research found that most people would accept mobile advertising if certain rules are respected – for example, the operator must ensure that they have control over the advertising customers receive. Most of those surveyed would agree to receive mobile advertising even without being offered a financial bonus because they believe the main benefit should be to receive information that is useful to them. Around 90% of respondents said that it was important that they only receive adverts about things which interest them. Users also want assurance that their data would not be passed to third parties.
Research commissioned in September 2007 by Vodafone in the Czech Republic showed that 80% accepted advertising via SMS text messaging. A study commissioned by Vodafone Australia showed that 37% of consumers wanted more mobile offers, 50% were neutral and 13% did not want to see advertising on their mobile.
Published guidelines and principles on mobile advertising
We have developed Group guidelines and principles on consumer data privacy. These are interpreted by our operating companies for use in local markets. The guidelines ensure consent is properly obtained, privacy is protected and content standards are upheld. See Vodafone Group mobile advertising guidelines.
We will:
This page is within the scope of the assurance statement by Deloitte.