DIGITAL MEDIA

THE mobile phone is a very personal device. How many of us go back to get their mobile phone if they’ve left home without it? Or feel naked or out of touch if they are away from their phone for an extended period?

The mobile phone has become part of our lives and part of our identity. The device itself, the ring tone, the screen images and the assortment of accessories all help define who we are to the outside world.

And just as the mobile phone revolution many years ago allowed us to stay in touch on the move via voice communication, as we have become more internet reliant the mobile has become our on-the-move digital platform. It is now a way of connecting and engaging people throughout their digital day – regardless of where they are.

None of this is new. But the opportunities it presents for both personalising content and developing new opportunities for advertisers to engage time poor and demanding consumers are only just emerging.

We have been looking at how to maximise the ability of the mobile platform to provide the opportunity to communicate and build a deeper relationship with audiences. For News Digital Media it is about more than another consumer touch point, but about developing a customised media experience to suit our audiences’ lifestyles.

From our research, we have found that consumers value choice as the number one attribute of their mobile user experience. They want the ability to personalise the mobile site and view the content they are interested in viewing. They want control.

So instead of just offering a standard off-deck mobile site to keep the consumer/brand relationship alive, we are allowing consumers to personalise our content to meet their mobile needs.

We have spent a lot of time understanding our mobile audience at great depth and discovered that

our tech-savvy audience are more demanding when it comes to mobile content, especially when there are data charges involved.

Tapping into the needs of your customers is absolutely vital – and it helps create the right service for your key audience.

The result for us has been M.news.com.au, the only news site in Australia that provides consumers with the ability to choose the content they want

to view. M.news.com.au’s default settings are based on what the majority of users want from a news website – breaking news. They start with that and can change the content to suit their individual interests and needs.

The choice they make provide great insight into who is using the mobile platform and what they want to see, enabling us to further tailor our offering.

By instilling a sense of ownership and engaging the consumer at a deeper level, we are finding more loyal readers and repeat visits – especially from our key commuter audience who want to view the latest national, entertainment, business and breaking news while on the train or bus on the way to work.

The great thing about allowing consumers to choose the content they want to view is that it not only satisfies the consumer, but advertisers too.

The process we’ve discovered so far is that personalising mobile content helps identify and connect audiences at deeper levels, providing a stronger offering for potential advertisers.

At the moment, the challenge is to try and convince advertisers that the mobile platform is worth advertising on. Yes, it is a great revenue channel for a digital brand, but what’s a revenue channel without an advertiser to

provide it?

This is where we return to the roots on why we provide a mobile content service to customers – it is a personal device; an engaging platform. It is a way to tap into what consumers really want, on a personal level.

Companies to have already taken the challenge and using the mobile channel to communicate with their customers include the Commonwealth Bank and Smirnoff.

Smirnoff achieved great success with an advertising campaign that used the Moshtix mobile site to reach their target audience.

As with anything new, there are hurdles. Data charges – particularly in the current economic market – usually deter consumers from browsing mobile sites. This is why it is important to allow consumers to choose the content they are interested in viewing. And as competition for market share increases and more sophisticated handsets are released in the market, the only direction for data charges is down. As technological and cost barriers continue to tumble, it’s impossible to see where the possibilities for mobile content and mobile advertising

will end.

All eyes are on the mobile advertising industry. Currently in its infancy in Australia, the potential of this area is huge as is its ability to become a key new tool in a highly competitive industry is only just being realised.

Its potential is almost limitless and it’s going to be big.

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