 "The mobile advertising dilemma")
Spending on in-app advertising is expected to reach $17 billion by 2018, according to Juniper Research. This is up dramatically from the $3.5 billion spent in 2013, and makes in-app advertising the fastest growing segment of mobile advertising. But advertisers in India are keener on mobile web than apps when it comes to deploying their advertising buck. Which of the two could be a more relevant platform?
The advertiser should follow the target audience: Rahul Nanda
If we were to go simply by usage in terms of time spent on mobile apps versus mobile web, the former seems to be the winner of the better platform for ads. A recent data report from Flurry, an app analytics provider, shows that mobile apps accounted for 86 per cent of the usage, that is two hours and 19 minutes of the time spent, while mobile web usage dropped to just 14 per cent or 22 minutes per day as of last month. This may be data emerging from the US but still it gives us the global picture in digital advertising. According to Flurry, gaming apps still dominate mobile usage with 32 per cent of time spent on iOS and Android devices, while Facebook was second with 17 per cent of time spent on mobile. YouTube was at 4 per cent and Twitter at 1.5 per cent. These are your usual suspects for mobile advertising, today.
Ad spend data from eMarketer reveals that people spent about 18 per cent of their time in Google properties such as YouTube and brought in 49 per cent of the mobile ad spending. By contrast Facebook received 18 per cent of mobile ad spending for its 17 per cent of time on its mobile properties. The 'rest of the apps', including gaming apps, however, are not getting their fair share of advertising spent. With 65 per cent of time spent, they received only 32 per cent of ad revenues. This implies a large opportunity for these apps to monetise through advertising. But is this view superficial?
Mobile users prefer the browser because it offers access to all the content they want, in one place. There is no switching required between different applications for different pieces of information, as all content they need sits within a singular browsing experience. Mobile web gets you that reach and has better discoverability. In contrast apps are too fragmented. The mobile web is also getting more 'app-like' as smart web designers push the boundaries of what HTML5 can do. As a result, mobile advertisers will benefit the most from browser-based opportunities. So where does this leave the marketers? The main goal marketers aspire to achieve is delivering the right ad, in the right context, at the right time. The chances of achieving this are better when you have a good understanding of exactly where users will be more receptive to your message. It is important, then, to understand behaviour taking place on both the platforms - apps and the browser. Native app games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, while fun to play, aren't the best place to effectively reach corporate CEOs for advertising. To reach a CEO, it is critical for marketers to understand where he's likely to be more receptive to that message - while browsing news and information on the web or gaming in a mobile app.
Mobile web is not dead: Kshitiz Randhir Shori
There's no denying that apps is a growing platform for mobile ads because they address the challenge of better user experience. So marketers can create rich ad experiences and take advantage of device capabilities with apps. In fact, Opera Mediaworks, in its recent State of the Mobile Advertising report, concurred that in-app advertising outperformed banner ads on the mobile web. Rich media ads served within the mobile applications were more compelling than those served on mobile web. Users clicked on apps 1.53 per cent of the time versus 1.12 per cent of mobile web as per the report.
Having said that, marketers don't discuss platforms at the outset: they discuss the media reach because that gives the sense of which platform is the best for execution of advertising. For an FMCG brand, which is heavily skewed toward the rural audience, the mobile web can provide a wider reach simply because there are still fewer smartphone users there. However, for an auto company that needs to advertise about its premium SUV on the digital platform, it would be better to pick up the best apps in news, financial and business segments for advertising because the target group is present there.
So which platform is better clearly depends on what the company/brand wants to achieve and where the target audience is. Reach and scale in advertising requires mobile web but advertising to a specific target audience to generate engagement requires apps. We are seeing that the maximum amount of time is spent on apps because there is a lot of stickiness there and yes, more and more brands are giving briefs toward rich media and innovative ad formats that can be executed better on apps.
The challenge in apps, however, is if many users install apps, they also uninstall them, which in turn can be detrimental for companies opting for this platform in digital advertising.
So the app, at the outset, has to be very engaging for advertising to excel on it. Marketers also need to gear up for the multiple screen experience that users are getting engaged with increasingly; phablets, tablets, smartphone variants etc. We have to move quickly to engage users with advertising on multiple screens. It is a challenge but the eco system will mature and marketers will use it as an opportunity to excel.
Appvertising will grow because of higher interactivity: Zafar Rais
The total online advertising market in India, comprising search, display, mobile, social media, email and video advertising was valued at Rs 1,750 crore in FY 2011-2012 and has grown to Rs 2,260 crore in FY 2012-2013. It is projected that by FY 2013-2014, the size of the online advertising market in India will be Rs 2,938 crore. On an average, the online ad market has been growing at 30 per cent year-on-year basis from FY 2010-2011 to FY 2013-2014.
Smartphones are used by a majority of the population today. Hence, opportunities of marketing through mobile ads and in-app advertisements are increasing. The benefit of mobile and app advertising lies in the fact that it provides a wide reach with increased frequency. Many factors are taking into consideration while choosing mobile web or mobile apps, even if it is the same product category. Choosing between them depends on the objective of the campaign. Of all the global internet traffic, 15 per cent is through mobile web, which roughly accounts for over 1.2 billion people accessing the web from their mobile devices. However, with several advancements made in the field of mobile applications, it is taking away a heavy chunk of the revenue spent on mobile advertising. Around 86 per cent of the mobile time is spent on applications, while the rest is on mobile web.
Research shows that tablets are significantly broadening key audiences' engagement with content. Apps are more interactive in nature and thus there is higher engagement. Mobile apps give greater access to the phone's features while mobile websites give very limited access to it.
However, there can be some hurdles with respect to mobile app advertising, like finding a vendor with expertise, the constantly changing and dynamic nature in the technology used (iOS, HTML 5) and most importantly, since different phones support different formats so factoring in uniformity is important.
In-app advertising is the next frontier for digital marketing: Rohit Ohri
It is hard to say which platform is better and most brands continue going with both, but there's no denying the growth of advertising on apps. In developed markets especially where app consumption is very high (gaming apps especially are very popular), in-app advertising is growing. With a lot of data from apps being directly taken from your Facebook or Twitter accounts (given that you can log in to apps using the same passwords as your social networking pages), the user experience in apps is high and so advertising can really be made relevant with immense customisation of content in a way that is unique and differentiated. Given the dynamic characteristics of the mobile medium, in-app advertising could play a crucial role.
The challenge though is the high rate of uninstallation of apps that can mean the end of reaching out to the customer through advertising on the medium (gaming apps, though installed very often, are also uninstalled after 60 days).
Nonetheless, advertising on apps is definitely the way forward as more and more people take to smartphones even as companies create better, more relevant apps at the outset to keep viewers engaged. Though issues such as high battery usage while installing more apps are a matter of concern, on the whole we find that in-app advertising is definitely poised to grow. Given that gaming continues being an important growth segment for apps, there's a clear scope for advertising to grow on this platform. With 'mobile first' being the strategy for growth, there's no way that advertisers can ignore users on this platform. Since more people are moving to smartphones, advertisers have to quickly tap into the potential of creating relevant advertising for this platform.
The advertiser should follow the target audience: Rahul Nanda
If we were to go simply by usage in terms of time spent on mobile apps versus mobile web, the former seems to be the winner of the better platform for ads. A recent data report from Flurry, an app analytics provider, shows that mobile apps accounted for 86 per cent of the usage, that is two hours and 19 minutes of the time spent, while mobile web usage dropped to just 14 per cent or 22 minutes per day as of last month. This may be data emerging from the US but still it gives us the global picture in digital advertising. According to Flurry, gaming apps still dominate mobile usage with 32 per cent of time spent on iOS and Android devices, while Facebook was second with 17 per cent of time spent on mobile. YouTube was at 4 per cent and Twitter at 1.5 per cent. These are your usual suspects for mobile advertising, today.
Ad spend data from eMarketer reveals that people spent about 18 per cent of their time in Google properties such as YouTube and brought in 49 per cent of the mobile ad spending. By contrast Facebook received 18 per cent of mobile ad spending for its 17 per cent of time on its mobile properties. The 'rest of the apps', including gaming apps, however, are not getting their fair share of advertising spent. With 65 per cent of time spent, they received only 32 per cent of ad revenues. This implies a large opportunity for these apps to monetise through advertising. But is this view superficial?
Mobile users prefer the browser because it offers access to all the content they want, in one place. There is no switching required between different applications for different pieces of information, as all content they need sits within a singular browsing experience. Mobile web gets you that reach and has better discoverability. In contrast apps are too fragmented. The mobile web is also getting more 'app-like' as smart web designers push the boundaries of what HTML5 can do. As a result, mobile advertisers will benefit the most from browser-based opportunities. So where does this leave the marketers? The main goal marketers aspire to achieve is delivering the right ad, in the right context, at the right time. The chances of achieving this are better when you have a good understanding of exactly where users will be more receptive to your message. It is important, then, to understand behaviour taking place on both the platforms - apps and the browser. Native app games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, while fun to play, aren't the best place to effectively reach corporate CEOs for advertising. To reach a CEO, it is critical for marketers to understand where he's likely to be more receptive to that message - while browsing news and information on the web or gaming in a mobile app.
Rahul Nanda
Senior VP (Digital), Cheil Worldwide SW Asia
Senior VP (Digital), Cheil Worldwide SW Asia
Mobile web is not dead: Kshitiz Randhir Shori
There's no denying that apps is a growing platform for mobile ads because they address the challenge of better user experience. So marketers can create rich ad experiences and take advantage of device capabilities with apps. In fact, Opera Mediaworks, in its recent State of the Mobile Advertising report, concurred that in-app advertising outperformed banner ads on the mobile web. Rich media ads served within the mobile applications were more compelling than those served on mobile web. Users clicked on apps 1.53 per cent of the time versus 1.12 per cent of mobile web as per the report.
Having said that, marketers don't discuss platforms at the outset: they discuss the media reach because that gives the sense of which platform is the best for execution of advertising. For an FMCG brand, which is heavily skewed toward the rural audience, the mobile web can provide a wider reach simply because there are still fewer smartphone users there. However, for an auto company that needs to advertise about its premium SUV on the digital platform, it would be better to pick up the best apps in news, financial and business segments for advertising because the target group is present there.
So which platform is better clearly depends on what the company/brand wants to achieve and where the target audience is. Reach and scale in advertising requires mobile web but advertising to a specific target audience to generate engagement requires apps. We are seeing that the maximum amount of time is spent on apps because there is a lot of stickiness there and yes, more and more brands are giving briefs toward rich media and innovative ad formats that can be executed better on apps.
The challenge in apps, however, is if many users install apps, they also uninstall them, which in turn can be detrimental for companies opting for this platform in digital advertising.
So the app, at the outset, has to be very engaging for advertising to excel on it. Marketers also need to gear up for the multiple screen experience that users are getting engaged with increasingly; phablets, tablets, smartphone variants etc. We have to move quickly to engage users with advertising on multiple screens. It is a challenge but the eco system will mature and marketers will use it as an opportunity to excel.
Kshitiz Randhir Shori
Head, Brand Advertising, Opera Mediaworks
Head, Brand Advertising, Opera Mediaworks
Appvertising will grow because of higher interactivity: Zafar Rais
The total online advertising market in India, comprising search, display, mobile, social media, email and video advertising was valued at Rs 1,750 crore in FY 2011-2012 and has grown to Rs 2,260 crore in FY 2012-2013. It is projected that by FY 2013-2014, the size of the online advertising market in India will be Rs 2,938 crore. On an average, the online ad market has been growing at 30 per cent year-on-year basis from FY 2010-2011 to FY 2013-2014.
Smartphones are used by a majority of the population today. Hence, opportunities of marketing through mobile ads and in-app advertisements are increasing. The benefit of mobile and app advertising lies in the fact that it provides a wide reach with increased frequency. Many factors are taking into consideration while choosing mobile web or mobile apps, even if it is the same product category. Choosing between them depends on the objective of the campaign. Of all the global internet traffic, 15 per cent is through mobile web, which roughly accounts for over 1.2 billion people accessing the web from their mobile devices. However, with several advancements made in the field of mobile applications, it is taking away a heavy chunk of the revenue spent on mobile advertising. Around 86 per cent of the mobile time is spent on applications, while the rest is on mobile web.
Research shows that tablets are significantly broadening key audiences' engagement with content. Apps are more interactive in nature and thus there is higher engagement. Mobile apps give greater access to the phone's features while mobile websites give very limited access to it.
However, there can be some hurdles with respect to mobile app advertising, like finding a vendor with expertise, the constantly changing and dynamic nature in the technology used (iOS, HTML 5) and most importantly, since different phones support different formats so factoring in uniformity is important.
Zafar Rais
CEO, MindShift Interactive
CEO, MindShift Interactive
In-app advertising is the next frontier for digital marketing: Rohit Ohri
It is hard to say which platform is better and most brands continue going with both, but there's no denying the growth of advertising on apps. In developed markets especially where app consumption is very high (gaming apps especially are very popular), in-app advertising is growing. With a lot of data from apps being directly taken from your Facebook or Twitter accounts (given that you can log in to apps using the same passwords as your social networking pages), the user experience in apps is high and so advertising can really be made relevant with immense customisation of content in a way that is unique and differentiated. Given the dynamic characteristics of the mobile medium, in-app advertising could play a crucial role.
The challenge though is the high rate of uninstallation of apps that can mean the end of reaching out to the customer through advertising on the medium (gaming apps, though installed very often, are also uninstalled after 60 days).
Nonetheless, advertising on apps is definitely the way forward as more and more people take to smartphones even as companies create better, more relevant apps at the outset to keep viewers engaged. Though issues such as high battery usage while installing more apps are a matter of concern, on the whole we find that in-app advertising is definitely poised to grow. Given that gaming continues being an important growth segment for apps, there's a clear scope for advertising to grow on this platform. With 'mobile first' being the strategy for growth, there's no way that advertisers can ignore users on this platform. Since more people are moving to smartphones, advertisers have to quickly tap into the potential of creating relevant advertising for this platform.
Rohit Ohri
Executive Chairman, Dentsu India, & CEO, Dentsu APac (South)
Executive Chairman, Dentsu India, & CEO, Dentsu APac (South)