A new study on consumer response to mobile marketing suggests that the market may not be ready for the new technique, even if the technology is. While mobile marketing is definitely going to be a part of the future of marketing techniques, it may not be wise to put all your eggs in that basket while consumer spending is still way down.

The recession is going to make mobile marketing much more difficult for several reasons, one of the most important being that it’s going to be hard to judge the effectiveness of a campaign when consumers don’t have money to spend, period.

A campaign that might be very effective when consumers are doing a little better may tank when they don’t have extra cash to spend on luxuries, and that misinformation is going to mean bad money thrown after good.

Keep it simple
The best strategy for the moment, the study concludes, is to keep it small and convenient without breaking the bank. Make sure your website is mobile-optimized and get included in mobile searches, but campaigns like mobile video are best left on the back burner until the economy takes a turn for the better.

We all know that the newspaper industry has been taking a major hit, with declining subscriptions contributing to lower print ad revenues. Newspapers have tried to adapt by going online, but the ad revenue they receive there is nowhere near enough to keep the highly-trained investigative personnel they need to perform.

One of the strategies newspapers haven’t yet considered is a fundamental change in the way they use their online platforms. The most successful online businesses are easy-to-use compilations of information – Google, iTunes, Etsy, Amazon.com. The strategy means that they can give consumers exactly the information they require in a single place.

Much of newspapers are similarly aggregators. They contain real estate ads, retail promotions, and classified sections selling everything from automobiles to new jobs. By using those naturally compiled sections of the paper, there may be a way to make newspapers valuable in a way that makes money for investigative journalism to continue and thrive.

Is it possible that by becoming an aggregate in select portions of the paper like classifieds, newspapers might just find their niche online – and that ad revenue they so desperately need?

Most experts agree: this is the worst economic downturn in decades.

Predictions that things will get worse before getting better has some media buyers believing that the recession will work to their advantage. They will be looking for price rollbacks and much more flexible terms to keep the network time spots filled.

But others are not so sure.

Right now, the networks aren’t indicating plans to implement flex time or any other concession to buyers. CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, however, is the only network executive at this point willing to discuss possible pricing changes for his network. He has also indicated that CBS will be selling fewer inventories upfront in 2009.

Sellers at other networks say they have no idea how pricing will turn out this year in the upfront market. They say things could remain uncertain even longer – especially if media buyers come with unrealistic expectations, it could take longer.

According to Media.com North American CEO Doug Checkeris, the big question many advertisers have is, “Why go long now?” The obvious answer seems to be more attractive pricing. Will the pricing issue become between Networks and media buyers become ugly? Checkeris’ response: “If it’s not ugly, then we haven’t done our jobs.”

Recently adotas.com posted a news story anouncing that Yahoo had signed a deal with MobiTV. This deal could mean big things for media buying experts. It could be a way to target your indvidual direct response audience and customize your infomercial to reach a specific group of the population.

Yahoo has signed an advertising deal with MobiTV, a company that specializes in video content on mobile devices. Yahoo will serve as MobiTV™s primary network for advertising sales and distribution. MobiTV™s video service will be fully integrated with Yahoo™s recently launched Mobile Publisher Services.

As we progress, we will deploy additional features including next-generation interactivity, location-awareness and click-to-act – maximizing the currency this alliance offers brand advertisers, said Jack Hallahan, MobiTV™s VP of advertising in a statement.

Yahoo will begin integrating ads with MobiTV™s free and premium programming over the next few months. According to MobiTV, the company has generated more than a million subscribers since it launched in 1999.

With the addition of this latest client, Yahoo will be able to offer multiple media buys through its system that includes text banner and mobile video. The Mobile Publisher system lets mobile publishers display banner, video and in-game ads on their mobile sites and applications. Other partners at launch include web browser developer Opera and location-based mobile content network, go2.

adotas.com

Peter Koeppel is Founder and President of Koeppel Direct