Close-Up: Live Issue - Will mobile ever fulfil its potential?

Yes, it's true that it is not a new medium, but it is also true that it

has been much hyped in the past but never quite reached its
potential.

However, some believe that this may be about to change, following last
week's news that the UK's five biggest mobile operators, 3, O2, Orange,
Vodafone and T-Mobile, have signed a deal with the Internet Advertising
Bureau in a bid to raise the profile, transparency and measurement of
the medium and finally push it to a place where it is as important as
press and TV.

It will also include the formation of a mobile steering group that will
sell the importance of the medium to the wider industry.

Guy Phillipson, the, chief executive of the IAB, says: "It will mean we
can help educate advertisers and agencies about what's possible on
mobile right now, and do exactly what we did with online to mobile."

However, it needs to be remembered that there are still a lot of hurdles
to overcome if the group is going to be as successful as Phillipson and
the mobile providers hope.

Andrew Robertson, the chief executive of BBDO Worldwide, says: "The
extent to which data is private or not and what constitutes private
information and what doesn't is a major consideration."

The medium also seems to be hampered by a lack of understanding on the
part of the media and advertising agencies as to how to create good
mobile campaigns, breeding reluctance on the side of the client to spend
money on it.

Chris Bourke, the managing director of Mobext, a specialist mobile
agency, says: "More work also needs to be done in validating our own
intentions. Our beliefs need to be rigorously examined so that we can
prove we're right in terms of the benefits that mobile marketing can
provide.

"We also simply need more brands in the public sector to try mobile
advertising. That's what happened with the internet, it needed brands to
embrace it, and when they did, it finally took off."

Andrew Walmsley, a co-founder of i-level, also believes that there are
other key things that need to happen for the industry to reach its
potential.

"Standardised formats, which haven't yet been properly accepted, need to
be decided and widely adopted," he says. "Agencies also need third-party
ad serving - having servers in-agency so they don't need to constantly
chase media owners to find out how well the campaign has done. That
doesn't exist in mobile, and it's an obstacle to demonstrating
effectiveness. It also raises the transaction cost of managing a
campaign."

The overall feeling seems to be that the deal could definitely help
bring some stability and understanding to the industry, but companies
and agencies are certainly being cautious about its overall effect on
the industry, bearing in mind the medium has been hyped up before.

Neil Andrews, the head of portal advertising at 3, says: "I think the
potential has been over-hyped. But mobile advertising is something
that's really growing as part of our business. I mean, if you look at
the conversions in comparison to web advertising, then it really is
remarkable.

"Slowly but surely, it'll start to gain bigger budgets from the big
brands, but we're at least five years away from people committing huge
chunks of money to mobile. At the moment for us, then, it's all about
managing the hype."

- Got a view? E-mail us at campaign@haymarket.com

TRADE BODY - Guy Phillipson, chief executive, Internet Advertising
Bureau

"Mobile hasn't failed, but it's been slow to grow due to a number of
barriers, including users' perception of cost for mobile internet
roaming. However, the good news is that now all the mobile operators
have launched fixed-price monthly tariffs, so it's more affordable.

"Another barrier has been a lack of advertiser knowledge about what
mobile can do. When a media agency proposes mobile, it gets put in the
'too difficult' box and the idea is rejected.

"It also hasn't been easy to trade mobile. If an advertiser wanted to
run banners on all five networks, it would have to go through a lot of
negotiation. But now each of the operators has an arrangement with the
sales house or sells directly."

CLIENT - Steve Ricketts, head of mobile advertising, Orange

"I don't think you can say that mobile marketing has failed to meet its
potential, because it still needs time to make things happen.

"Mobile as a medium has really good penetration, people use it
constantly to play games, surf the internet, send texts etc. Between
12pm and 6pm, it's the most-used medium there is. People always have
their mobiles with them and they're always on, so building on that
consumption is vital. The Internet Advertising Bureau is there to help
us do that.

"Mobile complements all other media that exists. It can be your TV,
newspaper, internet, everything. Give it time, and it will become one of
the top advertising formats. It's just a question of how long it
takes."

NETWORK HEAD - Andrew Robertson, chief executive, BBDO Worldwide

"Who defines that potential? Consumers are spending a lot of time using
mobile devices, and using them other than just for speaking. The
potential for advertising is very real.

"There are some hurdles to overcome and barriers to face, such as the
level of confidentiality and privacy, and there are big business-model
issues over who owns what.

"The rules are going to be the same as other advertising channels. In
order to work, it will have to be engaging, compelling and useful.
Everything you can currently get from a TV, computer and the internet is
all available in the palm of your hand. It has to be at least as good as
those things."

MOBILE AGENCY HEAD - Chris Bourke, managing director, Mobext

"I think the main problem is that advertisers tend to be reluctant to
fund mobile campaigns, as there's a lot of conservatism within the
industry about it. It seems that advertisers are all waiting for each
other to make the first move, and if no-one does then the idea isn't
going to take off.

"I liken the growth of mobile marketing to that of internet advertising.
At the moment we're only at the very beginning of the success that
mobile can provide. But we're now seeing it play more and more of an
important role in the advertising mix.

"I believe that mobile marketing is now the glue that can link consumers
to all other parts of the marketing mix."