Mobile Applications as an Advertising Opportunity

The delivery of advertising with and within mobile applications is under way full speed, however some best practices have been defined, while some other have yet to be created.

Providing ads as part of mobile applications development new revenue streams for application publishers, distributors and service providers. These revenues may be used to partially or completely subsidize the price of a mobile application or the service(s) that the mobile application provides.

Taking advantage of mobile application advertising opportunities requires a solid understanding of the respective usage patterns (i.e., why, when and how an audience uses a particular mobile application). Depending on the user segment and the application type and genre, frequency of use can vary from once a month to more than 50 times per day. Reach can vary from niche to mass market and user preferences can vary from time-killers to finding information as quickly as possible. 

Mobile applications typically use the mobile phone’s capabilities, such as its camera, GPS and 3D graphics. These capabilities provide additional opportunities for ad campaigns. For example, if the campaign’s creator knows that a significant percentage of the target market owns handsets with GPS, the ads could use location information as part of the call to action.

Below is an example of mobile application ad opportunities.

Example: Mobile Game Advertising – Movistar/Betfair

This campaign was launched during the Mobile World Congress in Spain. It featured a game that users downloaded from an off-portal mobile website or via a Bluetooth kiosk in the Mobile World Congress area. The game’s regular price was €3 but it was provided for free at the Mobile Congress.

The goal was to promote Movistar and its advertiser, Betfair. The campaign met all expectations in terms of the number of downloads and ads served. Ad inventory was created at three different places in the game flow:

1. Pre- and post-roll full-screen graphics
2. Full-page ad image between game phases
3. In-game advertising (integration into game content)

Betfair ads were placed directly into the game and were fully integrated into the game content (e.g. displayed on truck and on the ball).

The game displays ads that are pre-defined and integrated at time of download. The lifetime of the campaign was limited to duration of the Mobile World Congress.

Based on “Mobile Applications” by Mobile Marketing Association, 2013