Mobile advertising developments in Czech Republic
With mobile voice markets saturated or approaching saturation across much of Eastern Europe, mobile operators are looking for strategies to grow ARPU levels. Mobile operators in the past looked to mobile content and applications although the entrance of more nimble players (Apple is perhaps the most visible example) demonstrates how focused the mobile operators must be to stay competitive.
Mobile advertising has been identified as a future market opportunity for mobile operators due to changing media usage patterns, as people spend more time using mobile handsets and the Internet and less time on traditional media channels such as print and broadcast TV.
In the Czech Republic Vodafone Czech Republic (Vodafone CR) has been most active in the mobile advertising market since it commenced offering mobile advertising solutions in September 2007 based on the potential marketing audience present in its large subscriber base. Marketing solutions include targeted display advertising on the Vodafone live! portal and Internet SMS gateway, as well as an online lifestyle magazine and advertising via push SMS/MMS messages.
Vodafone’s Internet SMS gateway-based mobile advertising allows participants to send on-net SMS from an online website in exchange for viewing advertisements. Vodafone CR estimates the Internet SMS gateway is used by over 635,000 users per month (320,000 per week) generating 26 million page views per month in May 2009.
Advertising via push SMS/MMS messages is sent to subscribers registered to access the service. In return for viewing a SMS/MMS-based advertisement the registered user is allowed to send a SMS/MMS message. Vendor Frog2Frog developed the JAVA application that must be installed on the registered subscriber’s handset to access the service.
Both the Internet SMS gateway and the SMS/MMS advertising service were targeted at students under the “Student SMS GRÁTIS service” brand. Vodafone ceased offering the service during 2009 after research revealed a shift by students away from SMS messaging towards using mobile handsets for online chat or accessing online social networks.
To engage small businesses with its mobile advertising services Vodafone CR released its Vodafone myCampaign solution, an online self-service platform for mobile advertisers. The tool is designed to allow small businesses to establish and execute a cost-effective and local mobile advertising campaign. The tool combines campaign creation, reporting and online prepayment via credit card.
Competing operator T-Mobile noted in June 2009 that mobile phones were rarely used as a market tool despite the fact that mobile phones are personal, interactive and always with their owners. T-Mobile previously announced plans in March 2008 to lease advertising space in portals, with both advertisers and advertising pricing determined by an electronic auction.
T-Mobile undertook a trial SMS/MMS-based mobile advertising campaigns during early 2009 whereby participants were allowed to send free SMS messages in exchange for viewing advertisements.
T-Mobile completed a service trial during March – June 2009 with 3,133 participants in partnership with 22 advertisers. Participants were divided into two groups: 1,392 women aged 26-50 living in urban areas and 1,741 young people under the age of 26. During the trial the 22 advertisers completed 32 advertising campaigns resulting in an average response rate was 2.72%; the highest response rate was 11.78% and the lowest response rate of 0.29%, surpassing the 0.1% response rate commonly found for Czech Internet marketing campaigns.
Following the relative success of the trial, T-Mobile is considering launching targeted SMS/MMS advertisements by 2010.
See also:
- Czech Republic – Mobile Market – Overview & Statistics
- Digital Media – Advertising & Marketing Industry
- Global – Mobile Media – Content & Services Trends
Paul Kwon, Senior Research Analyst – BuddeComm
