It’s all about the mobile phone. That’s the message to advertisers clamoring to reach teens, because that’s where they’re spending their time, reports C/Net. What’s more, teens wield an estimated $200 billion annually in discretionary spending.
Fuse, a marketing agency based in Vermont, talked in recent weeks to senior technology executives from companies such as Sony, MTV Networks, Yahoo, and Nokia to find out what the future of technology will look like for the teen market.
Among the predictions:
- Mobile phones in the United States will surpass the popularity of desktops for teens.
- Only an estimated 20 percent of teens currently own a smartphone such as the iPhone,
- Smartphone adoption is expected to spread fast among teens in middle America and other areas.
- Geographic ad targeting to teens via the phone is expected to explode in the coming years.
“The iPhone is just the beginning of the all-in-one device. Uses of mobile devices will expand to include all kinds of bar code applications and prepaid debit card payment methods,” said Bill Carter, a partner at Fuse, who presented the findings at the YPulse 2008 National Mashup, a two-day conference on teens and technology.
Right now, mobile phone providers analyze an estimated 4 billion Internet Protocol addresses to provide street-level targeting to consumers. Companies like U.K.-based Blyk, for example, are reaching teens through the phone with ads and information on nearby nightspots. Teens sign up for the service.
“When you combine this new technology with teens giving their permission to market to them, the growth could be exponential,” Carter said.
But companies like Apple, Google, and Yahoo may be more effective at “side-loading” the cell phone with services. And most teens download music to their iPod that’s been ripped from a friend’s collection. “There’s a natural gravitation to get content on a device that’s different than the one the manufacturer intended,” he said.
Carter predicts that Apple’s iTunes will offer an unlimited monthly download service for music. Mobile phone companies, too, will launch music subscriptions on the smartphone.
Another prognostication: Other technology platforms will save, not kill TV networks.
The analog-to-digital conversion will make it possible for teens to watch live TV on portable devices. The technology will help the television networks target programming to specific audiences, and that will buoy the cost of advertising, he said.
A Motorola survey of young adults ages 16-27, indicates 70% percent demand far greater rich media experiences (such as mobile TV or video) and on-the-go broadband access.
Interactive mobile advertising works. An Adidas promotion entices mobile users to send a text message to receive recorded voice calls from NBA stars. Hyperfactory teamed with McCann Erickson on a Nike campaign during the Euro 2008 soccer tournament. WiMax-enabled MP3 players may allow all sorts of downloads, even streaming services.
