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U.S. Mobile User Numbers, Ad Recall Climbing Steadily

Though the U.S. lags behind the U.K. and India in many mobile phone usage categories, the number of U.S. mobile phone users has grown from 251 million in 4Q07 to over 263 million in 2Q08 - up nearly 10 percent - according to a Limbo and GfK Technology Mobile Advertising Report, writes MarketingCharts.

The U.S. also shows steady increases in the number of people who recall seeing advertising through their mobile phone, from 31 percent in ‘07 to 37 percent in 2Q.

Higher percentages of mobile phone users in the U.K. and India say they are receiving advertising messages through their mobile phone - 85 percent in India, 51 percent in the U.K.

Though mobile phone marketing exposure is prevalent in all three countries, the mobile delivery tools vary, the second-quarter study found:

• Still, text-messaging remains the most common advertising format recalled in all three countries (see chart).
• In the case of mobile web advertising, U.K. users recalled it most, with 16 percent of respondents recalling advertising compared with 8 percent of those in the U.S. and 4 percent of those in India (chart).
• Radio also showed striking variation, with nearly 40 percent of those in India recalling advertisements through radio on their mobile phones compared with only 9 percent in the U.K. and 3 percent in the U.S.

“We’re seeing an increase in consumer awareness of a variety of mobile advertising campaigns, from text message to interactive games to mobile internet banner advertisements,” said Jonathon Linner, CEO of Limbo.

Younger males typically view mobile internet advertising the most, the study found. The brands recalled in advertising via this channel were mainly mobile carriers, handset manufacturers, media brands and digital entertainment companies.

“With enhanced handsets and flat rate data tariffs increasingly common, it is only a matter of time before mobile internet advertising starts to rival the penetration of SMS or text message marketing,” said Colin Strong, head of mobile communications research at GfK Technology.

About the study: The Limbo-GfK Technology Mobile Advertising Report is produced quarterly and is distributed free to marketers. The Q2 report is based on a survey of 1,000 representative American adults, 1,000 UK adults interviewed by telephone, and 1,000 Indian adults interviewed by intercept.