7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
1/11
Competitrack Introduces Mobile Ad MonitoringAs smartphones and tablets continue to play an increasingly central role in consumers lives,its little surprise that advertisers have sought out opportunities to weave themselves into themobile experience by advertising on mobile websites and apps. For now, the mobile advertisinglandscape is in an early stage o development, but advertisers are enthusiastically experimentingwith the best ways to approach this emerging medium.
In March 2012, Competitrack added mobile advertising to our monitoring services, and we havesince captured nearly 20,000 ads rom Apples iOS and Googles Android phones and tablets.Looking at mobile advertisements that ran during the second hal o 2012 through the rst quarter
o 2013, we have produced this report to address w is investing inmobile ads, w they are running mobile ads, and w ads they arerunning. Our key ndings include:
Our clients can access static, animated, or video adsas well as landing pagesor the advertisements we have captured rom100 leading apps and 40 leading mobile websites. This report ocuses on the quantity o mobile ads run by each advertiser, not theadvertisers spend in the medium.
Written and Researched by Brian AsnerFollow him on Twitter at twitter.com/asner.
Designed by Tulula DevConnect on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tululadev
Interest In mobIle advertIsIng Is soarIng.94 o the top 100 U.S. advertisers have run mobile ads in the last 9 months. Interestis also high among medium and smaller brands, as 64% o the top 1,000 brandshave used mobile to advertise during this period.
the top 10 mobIle advertIsers(in terms o number o unique creatives running) wereAmazon, Toyota, Google, Verizon, AT&T, Microsot, Bank oAmerica, Home Depot, Progressive Insurance, and Target.
top categorIes of advertIsersusing mobile advertising include retail, entertainment& media, technology, travel & tourism, and automotiveadvertisers.
mobIle ads are unIque. Advertisers have beendriven to create unique content or their mobile ads. O the nearly20,000 mobile creatives in our archives, 85% were created specicallyor mobile devices rather than being repurposed rom other media.
Competitrack is a ull service advertisingtracking rm that provides U.S. andinternational creative tracking across 22online and ofine media types.
http://www.twitter.com/asnerhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/tululadeville/http://www.linkedin.com/in/tululadeville/http://www.twitter.com/asner7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
2/11
198
166
107
106
93
92
90
85
78
76
75
206
74
90
126
The Who
top 15advertIsers
durIng the perIod(based on the number o unique creatives monitored)
Although it is a relatively new medium, interest in mobile advertising is soaring. Thousands o top tieradvertisersdrawn rom a diverse range o industriesare now investing in the medium. O the top100 advertisers across all media, we ound that 94 o these advertisers ran mobile ads in the previous 9months. Adoption is also high among medium and smaller advertisers, as 64% o the top 1,000 brandsused mobile advertisements during the same period.
In the last 9 months, we have compiledmobile ads rom more than 2,100 leadingnational and regional advertisers. Duringthis period, Amazon was the mostactive mobile advertiser, running over200 mobile creative executions. Toyota
ollowed close behind with just under 200ads, while Google ran over 160 creativesduring the period.
To give these numbers some context,its helpul to assess how these top threeadvertisers used online display ads duringthe same period. We captured 955 displayads rom Amazon during this time, andToyota and Google each also ran about20% as many mobile ads as online display
ads. Considering that online display adshave been an established medium or wellover a decade, this seems to suggest thatadvertisers are condent in the potentialo the emerging medium o mobileadvertisements.
Logos, brands and other trademarks reerred to wthis report are the property o their respective trade
holders, and are not afliated with Competi
They do not sponsor or endorse our mate
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
3/11
Over 30% o the mobile ads captured came rom just twoindustries: retail (16% o ads) and entertainment & media(15% o ads). Other top industries or mobile activity includehigh tech, travel & tourism, nancial services, and telecom.
top 10advertIser IndustrIes
9%
Automotive
967ADS
8%
FinancialServices
915ADS
6%
Telecom
668ADS
10%
Technology
1,080ADS
Retail
16%
1,744ADS
Insurance
3%
352ADS
Travel andTourism
9%
986ADS
Food &Beverage
4%
456ADS
Entertainment& Media
15%
1,692ADS
QSR
2%
255ADS
Percentages represent shareof collected ads.
Unlike some emerging media that have been limited to early adopters,the initial users o mobile advertising appear to be drawn rom a broaderrange o industries and advertisers. This more diverse adoption may beattributed to the act that mobile media are relevant to a very broad range oadvertisers, as opposed to some touchpoints that only reach niche audiences.This may also indicate that the mobile advertising space is perceived asmore o a sure thing than other emerging media, so historically risk-averseadvertisers may be more willing to dip a toe in the water.
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
4/11
AccuWeather 670 418
Pandora 453 261
AroundMe 383 193
Dictionary.com 343 285
CNBC Real-Time 286 137
WeatherBug 275 195
Angry Birds 260 158
CBS News 249 181
ABC News 191 418
TMZ 177 123
The Where
Almost all o the advertisers weobserved used a combination omobile apps and sites or theircampaigns, with a high degreeo concentration among thetop app categories. 97% o the
mobile ads that we observedran on one o the top 10 appcategories, while 70% ran on oneo the top ve categories.
top 10app categorIes
News
Weather
Music & Audio
Entertainment
Games
Books & Reerence
Sports
Liestyle
Finance
Navigation
Among the apps we monitored, AccuWeather eaturedthe most creative elements during the period, with 670
ads rom over 400 dierent advertisers. The ten appsthat ran the most ads during the period are shown here.
apps ad count # of advertIsers
With 139 unique ads rom 121 advertisers, About.comsmobile website was the most active site we monitoredduring the period. ESPN and Amazons mobile sites eachran about 100 creatives, ollowed by the sites listed here.
mobIle sItes ad count # of advertIsers
About.com 139 121
ESPN 101 74
Amazon.com 100 58
AOL 96 86
CBS Sports 88 65
eHow 84 78
New York Times 83 70
AutoTrader.com 78 25
Disney 78 73
CNN 77 58
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
5/11
The What
When it comes to assessing the content o these ads, we at Competitrack are uniquely positioned tomonitor mobile ads in the context o an advertisers broader executions. In response to the uniquerequirements and opportunities o the mobile advertising space, 85% o the mobile ads we monitoredwere created exclusively or mobile platorms rather than being repurposed rom other media (such asonline video and or standard display ads).
The ads are intelligently targeted, runningon an Android app or technology newscalled Appy Geek.
Users o this app are likely to respond tocutting-edge automobile technology andthe sleekly shaped, uniquely painted electricconcept cars that drive across the ad.
The ads have a compelling oer: curiousconsumers can take the concept cars or atest drive.
This version encourages viewersto Take a Spin Around Boston,and includes a map o the BostonFinancial District.
The landing page points to test
drive locations at key Bostonlandmarks such as BostonCommon and Faneuil Hall.
A dierent version o this adocused on New York and includedits own locally relevant content.
The rich media mobile ad shownbelow rom BMW does an excellentjob maximizing the potential o thismedium.
The ad also takes advantage othe act that mobile users are otensharing their current location.
15%repurposedfromother media
85% unIquefor mobile content
85% 15%
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
6/11
A crucial (and admittedly obvious) dierence between traditional display ads and mobile display adsis that the latter are usually smaller. Thereore, advertisers need to be exceptionally selective aboutthe content they include in mobile ads. The Citi Financial Tools mobile ad shown below is a good
example o using a ocused messaging strategy (this one ranon Mapquests mobile website).
The ad encourages readers toManage your nances in one place,along with an image o their onlinedashboard tool.
Learn More drives tothe landing page,headlined by a messagethats relevant to the adscontent.
Landing page directlylinks to more inormationabout Citis nancial
tools and eatures Citissponsorship o the USOlympic and Paralympicteams (alluded to in themobile ad).
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
7/11
Like web display ads, its important that mobile ads point to a landing page that is specically relevantto the content o the ad. When landing pages are not aligned to the content o the clicked ad, a visitorwill likely bounce rom that page (i.e., immediately leave the website and go elsewhere). Considerthis American Express mobile ad, which ran on the IMDB mobile app in December 2012.
Landing pages strongcall-to-action (Apply Now)shows a ocus on conversions(in this case, card applications)rather than just getting adclick-throughs.
Copy emphasizes the points that users canaccumulate via their Business GoldRewards Card.
Learn More drives the user to a landingpage with specic detail about the card
(pictured below) rather than the AmericanExpress home page.
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
8/11
Since mobile users have heartily embraced video streaming, its not surprising to see advertisersworking in this medium as well. Adobe ran an entertaining B2B mobile video ad (repurposed rom an
online video campaign) in which a businessperson res his data-obsessedbut analytics-deprivedrobot and replaces him with the Adobe Marketing Cloud.
Short videos are ideal or
consumption on mobiledevices, especially or theon-the-go business audience
Interestingly, Adobe usedvery little TV during the period(only 1 spot) compared to 12online video ads plus thismobile execution
Landing page opens todigital analytics tab oAdobe Marketing Cloud
website Ran on Comcast.net mobile
site in January 2013
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
9/11
This is a well-executedmobile campaign on itsown, but its broader valuebecomes apparent whenit is viewed alongside theull range o cross-channelads or the product thatran throughout the year.Each medium was usedin a strategic and relevantmanner, communicatingdierent pieces o theoverall brand message.
While we are excited about Competitracks ability to provide clients with mobile ads and landing pageslike those shown in the previous examples, the greatest value or our clients comes rom being able
to see these mobile ads in the broader context o an advertisers cross-media campaigns. An excellentexample comes rom Starbucks launch o their Blonde Roast over the past year. The mobile ad shownbelow ran on the Pandora app in January and February o 2013, as part o a cross-channel sampling
promotion in which consumers could try a ree Blonde coee i theyshared a branded e-card (available on the landing page) through aFacebook mobile and desktop app.
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
10/11
One series o TV ads eatured liestyle imagery, andcentered on the lighter, mellower, subtler favor.This was supplemented with an additional TVcampaign that showed vignettes with the masterroasters who developed the new product. In print,the ocus shited primarily to the companysbroader history, such as series o sequentialquarterpage ads in the New York Timesthat showa 40-year innovation arc culminating in the Blonde
roast. On the other hand, a specic set o print ads in All You magazine utilized consumer testimonialsabout the product, including a survey o the magazines readers. For instance, one callout in the adnotes that 9 out o 10 All You readers would recommend StarbucksBlonde Roast to their loved ones. Meanwhile, ree standing insertsin papers like the Detroit Free Pressprovided a range o coupons todrive trial among new consumers.
7/28/2019 Our Mobile Future
11/11
These are just a handul o the nearly 20,000 mobile ads available or review in the Competitrackdatabase, along with 22 other online and ofine media types. The ability to analyze how advertisershave successully translated their integrated marketing eorts into mobile ads (along with other mediachannels) continues to be a revealing exercise, both or us at Competitrack and or the clients we serveWe would like to help you monitor the campaigns that matter most to your business, whether thats asingle mobile ad or a crossmedia look at a key category. To get started, contact us at the inormationbelow and wed be happy to help you set up an account.
http://www.competitrack.comKathy [email protected]
In addition to these traditional tactics, Starbucks produced in-store shel talkersand posters that ocused more squarely on the product via large, sumptuous
photography o the beans and the liquid. Online, the role o (desktop) displayads shited to publicizing the Find the Roast You Love Most events, whereconsumers could try the Blonde roast alongside other Starbucks products andvote or their avorite style. Theseevents were also supported withprint ads in magazines like Peopleand Latina.