One of the toughest things about ad-funded initiatives is the balance between creating a good consumer experience and driving interaction which leads to ROI. This can often be hard to do because ad-funded models tend to be much more aggressive than your regular type of advertising
Considering that you are basically getting paid in one way or another to view ads, whether it’s free drinks, free photo albums or free X-Factor calls, it’s not surprising that advertisers want a little more bang for their buck.
Myscreen is a mobile advertising technology company that lets subscribers get minutes and other perks in exchange for viewing, watching or clicking on ads.
Sounds easy but what’s the catch? Ads show up on your screen after every… single…call. It’s the revenge of the pop up ad.
The service is obviously opt-in, users have to install the application first. Profile data will be based on customer preferences when they sign up with a mobile operator.
I can see the appeal of this in the pre-paid market with free minutes on offer but
even then I think it’s going to be seen as a ‘necessary evil’ for users to get their freebies. And as a advertiser, is that what you really want to happen when people interact with your brand?
Moconews pointed out that free minutes and texts aren’t as attractive as it use to be. Pre-pay plans on networks like Orange gives users free Internet, SMS or calls for just topping up £10.
As a consumer, is the end of your phone call the best time to advertise to you on your mobile? My natural behaviour after a call is to press the end call button several times to get to the home screen so I can press keylock and put the phone back in my pocket. If I have to wait for my bumbling Blackberry or Sony Ericsson to load an app I’ll probably smash it against something. Read More
As we move towards a ad-funded existence, more and more of your day-to-day services will become cheaper or free. The guys at Trendwatching have called this movement ‘Free Love‘ which describes it perfectly (head on over there to check it out, great read).
While the lucky people of Japan get ad-funded vending machines, here in the UK we’ll have to settle for a cheaper directory enquiries service.
Calling directory enquiries from your mobile is ridiculously expensive in the UK. 118 118, which charges an average £1.13 when called from a mobile. Other services including Maureen (118 212) and YELL (118 247) cost £1.08, while BT(118 500) costs £1.38. So there is definitely space for a cheaper, ad-funded option.
That’s where 68100 comes in, for a flat rate of just 35p you can get the usual directory enquiries service for a quarter of the price. The catch is that you have to listen to a 20 second advert.
Once you put down the phone you’ll get a text message with the requested number as well as the offer from the advertiser in case you want to take it up later. What’s also interesting is that whilst on the phone you can press ’2′ and take up the offer there and then. Although this is charged at 35p per minute which is expensive. Read More
Ok that headline is almost true..
HotPrints is the printing service which allows Facebook and Bebo users to easily pull photos from their profiles to make printed photo albums. Their competitive price point ($2.99 per album) has made them something of a hit with over 20,000 books printed this year.
This month HotPrints have started a advertiser supported program where books will be free of charge (1 per month!) and come with removable full page inserts from sponsors.
Unfortunately no ads will be printed directly alongside your photos, as that would have been simply awesome, imagine your parents wedding anniversary sponsored by Tesco. Read More
The mobile network 3 has announced that it will be launching a tariff which will bundle a Spotify premium subscription along with their first Android handset, the HTC Hero.
According to Techcrunch:
“The offer will come in at £35 a month over 24 months plus £99 for the Hero handset. That tariff includes unlimited use of Spotify Premium on both the handset and the owner’s PC for 2 years, 750 minutes to other mobiles, unlimited texts, unlimited data, and other usual 3 tariff features like free Skype calling.”
I’m really intrigued about this and although I think it’s a great move I’m not sure if the tariff is that attractive. You still have to pay for the phone and 24 month contracts are just depressing. Read More
Whenever I hear the words ‘Ad-funded’, I normally associate it with non-tangible things such as digital content like Spotify or services such as Facebook. According to this article from 2007, it applies to food and drink too.
Japanese vending machine operator Apex Corp has come up with a system that will give customers the option of watching an advert instead of paying their drinks. A 30-second video commercial plays while the drink is poured into a ad covered paper cup.
The total saving is about 70 -120 Yen per cup, about 80p in the UK.
However not all drinks will be free and some ads only get you a discount off the price of the beverage, but it’s better than nothing right?
The first thing I thought of was how quickly I could take as many free drinks as possible. I would have no qualms about standing in front of the machine for 20 minutes filling up several flasks. Perhaps consumers attitudes are different in Japan. Or maybe I have a problem. Read More
Ever fancied calling to vote on X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing and paying up to £1.50 for the pleasure? No me neither, however there is now a solution for the millions of teens running up their parents phone bill.
Free2Call have come up with a way for you to vote for free or at a local rate by making advertisers pay for your vote. Read More
