Study: Consumers still wary of mobile ads

A new study from Forrester Research poses the titular question "Is the U.S. Ready for Mobile Marketing?" and while the results indicate the answer is a tentative "Yes," 79 percent of the sample group finds the idea of handset marketing annoying and only 3 percent say they trust ads delivered via mobile device. "We've grown up with this view of the TV commercial interrupting our favorite program," Forrester analyst and report co-author Christine Spivey Overby said in an interview with AdAge. "There's this ad-equals-interruption mindset that we have, and when you think about something as personal as the mobile phone that you hold in your hand and carry in your pocket, the idea of a marketer interrupting you while you have the phone, that's an idea that consumers hate."

According to the Forrester report, text messaging coupons and short codes remain the most consumer-friendly mode of mobile advertising, but are also far less immersive than ad-sponsored games and other more interactive content. Forrester's basic recommendations to mobile marketers: Keep the message brief and measure consumer response, target campaigns to the demographics most likely to respond, and adopt a mindset of value. (FierceMobileContent's basic recommendation to mobile marketers: Begin every ad with the magic words "Free beer!")

For more on the report:
- read this AdAge article

Related article:
- AT&T plans mobile advertising push