Mobile - Katz Marketing Solutions | Radio Advertising | Media Agency

These limitations depress demand for smartphone ads and lead to low prices. Abanner ad on a Web page that costs $3 to $5 for every thousand impressions maycost only 75 cents or $1 for a thousand impressions on a smartphone, Ms. Chen says.Another reason advertisers don’t value smartphone ads highly is that users tend tolack a receptive mind-set when using their phones. “It’s an activity you do for a shortburst of time,” Ms. Chen says. “It’s very functional.” That is not a good time to try tomake users stop what they are doing and give their attention to an advertiser’smessage.Ms. Chen says she tells her firm’s clients not to bother advertising on smartphones.Jeff Lanctot, global chief media officer at Razorfish, says context is much moreimportant on smartphones than on larger devices. “Requesting a marketing-relatedaction while looking at wedding photos would be considered intrusive,” he says, “butwhile playing a game, it might feel very natural.”Mark Himmelsbach, director of digital strategy at BBDO North America, sees somepotential uses for cell phones as an advertising medium, but he says most marketerstake care to limit the size of ads on phones “so as not to irritate people.”“Mobile ads are relegated to a tiny portion of the screen and are often invisible orignored by consumers,” Mr. Himmelsbach says.Phones do have some benefits, like the ability to serve up ads based on location or tointegrate advertising into apps that are used for something else, he says. But of allthe possible options, he says, “mobile display ads give us the least amount of creativeopportunity.”Location-based mobile advertising, known as geofencing, is directed only at nearbyprospects, and it has proved to work well, says Doug Ray, president of Carat NorthAmerica, a media planning and buying firm. “Knowing where you are geographicallyand delivering a contextually relevant offer has been effective in driving conversionsand sales,” he says. “Geofencing is not possible with a desktop PC.”Consumers, however, don’t necessarily want to be reminded that their phones arelocation-tracking devices for advertisers. “A mobile device is one of the mostpersonal forms of technology we have,” Ms. Chen says. Location tracking is perfectlylegal but apps ask users’ permission during installation.192