MyScreen CFO Raghu Kilambi on why he thinks this will be good for consumers:

“With Gartner forecasting global Mobile Advertising to surpass $12 billion by 2011, it is positioned to be the next ‘killer app’ and MyScreen is the most effective delivery platform for advertisers and operators, with the best user experience for Subscribers. Sentaca will help our Media & Mobile Carrier partners to deploy and scale quickly, maximizing the advertising and rewards opportunities.”

It’s worth a look, at least. Head to MyScreenMobile.com and check it out. It’s nice to have it in writing that they won’t sell your information to third parties.

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MyScreen Mobile makes mobile advertising partnership

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MyScreen Mobile makes mobile advertising partnership

The ups

Incentive-based advertising is something I actually covered in the early days of the Prepaid Reviews blog. The subject was MyScreen Mobile, and I had never heard of their business model. Here’s the long and short of it:

You go to their website and sign up for the service. During the signup process, you fill out a questionnaire about your interests. This allows MyScreen to serve you the most relevant ads. Once you’ve finished, you’ll be served an ad after you complete a call. When you view the ads, money is placed into an account, and is paid to you on a prepaid debit card at the end of every month. So just for looking at ads, you can knock down a part of your bill.

Virgin Mobile has an incentive-based program of their own, Sugar Mama. They allow you to earn free airtime minutes one of two ways. You can either watch and rate ads online, where one minute of viewing gives you one minute of airtime. Likewise, you can perform tasks online, where two completed tasks gives you a minute of airtime. So if you’re using a ton of minutes in a month, or just want to pay less for your cell service, you can exchange your time for minutes. Sounds like a sweet deal, right?

The downs

With Virgin Mobile, your rights are protected by their privacy policy. They even have a section clearly laying out what they can and cannot do with your information in regards to the Sugar Mama service. In short, no one has the right to redistribute our personal information without your permission. And that makes Sugar Mama a valuable service. Your information is kept private, so you won’t be prone to ads you didn’t ask to see.

Not so with MyScreen. They advertise the pay-per-view advertising, as well as paid surveys and referral bonuses. However, there is no privacy policy on their page. What does that mean? Maybe nothing. The lack of a privacy policy doesn’t necessarily mean that your information will be sold to third parties. However, it does mean that nothing is stopping MyScreen from selling your information to Post-It Perry, the Hobo Office Supply Guy.

When you go to MyScreen’s signup page, the first thing you’re asked to do is enter your email and cell number. I’m sorry, but I simply would not enter in such information without a privacy policy telling me exactly what’s going to happen to my information. I contacted MyScreen for comment, but I wasn’t acknowledged. To me, that makes it seem like we should fear the worst when signing up for their service.

Is this a sustainable model?

After hearing about services like MyScreen and Sugar Mama, I wondered how this model was sustainable. After all, you don’t see many outlets where end users get paid to view advertisements. As with anything this new, I tended to view it through a lens of skepticism. But then I came up with an analogy.

Think about Google’s AdSense program. If you publish on the Internet, you can sign up through them and have them serve ads to your site. When visitors to your site click on those ads, you get paid. Google does the legwork in signing up advertisers and ensuring that their ads are served appropriately.

In the incentive-based model, it seems that the end user replaces the publisher. Instead of serving an ad to a website and paying based on the number of clicks, ads are served right to the mobile user, who are paid just for viewing. MyScreen and Sugar Mama, then act as middlemen, like Google.

Of course, the sting here is that advertisers gain more from the pay per click model. They pay for only people who click the ads, but their message is shown to everyone who visits that publication. So their reach extends further than their payout. Whereas when ads are being served to a mobile user, it is them, and only them, who see the ads.

So I’m still skeptical as to its sustainability, but not as much as I was initially. Really, I’m far more concerned about the privacy issues than the lifespan of the business model.

It sounds good, but beware

It’s easy to get roped into a deal that seems too good to be true. Yes, being paid to view advertising sounds like a great deal, but when it’s at the cost of having your information sold to other advertisers, well, it doesn’t sound so sweet. Now does it?

Still, incentive-based advertising is a young model, and could prove viable as advertisers and network operators search for the best way to deliver advertising over mobile phones. Our cell phones are personal, and we simply won’t tolerate the kind of advertising we see in print and broadcast media.

But if mobile advertising is going to hit us either way, we might as well get something from it. Right?

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The ups and downs of incentive-based mobile advertising

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

The ups and downs of incentive-based mobile advertising

“Mobile advertising is an excellent vehicle for reaching a growing segment of younger consumers who are drifting away from traditional mediums such as TV and print,” said Neil Lindsay, vice president of product development, Boost Mobile. “The unique advantage Boost Mobile offers advertisers is access to today’s under 30 audience – a massive and growing crowd of consumers who are more likely to embrace advertising on their wireless phones.”

I’m not sure that people under 30 are “more likely to embrace advertising on their wireless phones.” From my experience, being under 30 and associating mostly with people under 30, we can be rather indignant towards advertising.

Thankfully, these advertisements won’t be text messaged to your or anything like that. They will appear on BoostLIVE and Web Home. Also, you can choose to opt out of the service by calling 1-888-BOOST-4U.

[Business Wire]

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Boost Mobile to start serving ads to subscribers

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Boost Mobile to start serving ads to subscribers

To ensure that you receive only coupons in which you might be interested, Cellfire has a questionnaire when you sign up. This will identify your age and location, so that you won’t receive a coupon for a seafood restaurant in San Francisco if you live in New York.

Certain conveniences, however, are unavailable at the moment. For instance, the cashier has to take your cell phone and view the coupon in order to redeem it. There is no way at the moment to send the coupon to the cash register, though that’s probably more the fault of dated registers than of the coupon system. And no, they cannot scan your cell phone screen — we had a friend try that at Borders once and it failed miserably.

The list of companies providing coupons includes Virgin Megastores, Hollywood Video, Domino’s, and Quiznos.

One big challenge for marketers contemplating cellphone advertising is to figure out how much and what kind of advertising will be tolerated by consumers. While marketers have long felt little compunction about saturating airwaves, print media and billboards with advertising messages, they are conscious that some consumers feel cellphones are personal space. That is prompting advertisers to tread more carefully in the new medium.

Hey, we view TV as a personal space, yet we are invaded every 15 or 20 minutes. We think this is a preliminary precaution, since the medium is highly untested. However, once time moves along, we think that the interruption ads we see on TV will be incorporated into cell phones. Which, of course, will cause us to throw ours across the room in frustration.

Once again, a decent idea in theory, and this might even work in practice. However, we don’t see this kind of advertising lasting for very long. Marketers don’t pay individuals to view their web ads, so what’s to suggest this will be any different down the road in mobile advertising?

[The Wall Street Journal]

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Another stab at mobile advertising: coupons

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Another stab at mobile advertising: coupons

Finally, though, mobile advertisers are beginning to take advantage.

Several blue-chip brands like Nokia Corp. and McDonald’s Corp. have been experimenting with interactive ads on cell phones, taking advantage of the device’s ability to know where you are. Customers have the option of finding the nearest retail or restaurant outlet with the press of a key.

Now, the thing is, we still don’t want to receive a text message offering this service. We want to know it exists, and we’ll use it at our convenience. Yes, that means the ads won’t reach as many people. But it also means that better prospects will be viewing them. And as someone paying for an ad, wouldn’t you rather see a lesser number of more interested prospects viewing the ad, rather than a greater number of prospects whose interest can’t be gauged?

People need to feel, [Frank] Brown [director of the mobile marketing and technology firm Sydus] said, that they had specifically invited the pitch or are engaging with the brand in a relevant and entertaining way.

So at least one person gets it. Honestly, if approached in this manner, mobile advertising can be useful and successful. However, we feel that many American advertising firms will have a hard time breaking away from their normal interruption model.

[San Francisco Chronicle]

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Mobile advertising becoming more consumer friendly?

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Mobile advertising becoming more consumer friendly?

If you think we’re kidding, we’ll quote right from the article:

Social networking site users will get the chance to adorn photos of their friends with virtual AT&T Wireless branded phones as part of an upcoming widget campaign by the mobile provider. The app will let people place images of cell phones into digital photos on their profile pages; the Flash-based photo accessories will vibrate upon rollover, and can even be souped up with ringtones.

The overall effort is being spearheaded by Slide, the company that provides digital slideshows for Facebook users. So when that picture of your drunk buddy comes up, he’ll be holding an AT&T phone. And if you roll over the phone, the picture will vibrate. Coooooooool.

We’re presuming that you can also click on the phone and be brought to the AT&T wireless website. Neat-o. You know, because we always have the urge to purchase a phone when we see someone carrying one — especially when they’re carrying it in a completely unnatural, Photoshopped manner.

Seriously, we understand new wave marketing. But this just sounds like a dead end idea to us. Companies are going to continue thinking of ways to penetrate the social networking market, and there are bound to be lame-brained ideas like this one along the way. But hey, it’s more money out of AT&T’s pocket with little chance for a return. So it’s not all bad.

[ClickZ]

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Things we don’t get: Add AT&T phones to your friends’ pictures

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Things we don’t get: Add AT&T phones to your friends’ pictures

To date, Virgin reports doling out 9 million free minutes, which means that advertisers have spent a whole helluva lot of time with Virgin subscribers. The part we don’t understand, though, is why advertisers would target Virgin, whose main subscriber base is late teens and early 20s. We all know that demographic isn’t always flush with cash.

Think about it: those who opt into mobile advertising plans like this are likely in need of the free minutes. Why are they in need? Because they don’t have a lot of money, so every little bit helps. So if they don’t have a lot of money, why are you trying to sell them things? According to analysts, “people in their late teens and twenties are less price-conscious when they do spend their money.”

The results bear this out. The click-through rate is a staggering 5 percent. This may not seem like much, but keep in mind that a one percent response rate is considered excellent in the direct marketing industry, and response rates to online ads is below one percent. Of course, this five percent rate won’t last long. But early results are favorable for mobile advertising.

Another reason for targeting a younger demographic: they will eventually start to earn more money. “The 2007 college senior could take a job with [consulting firm] Accenture (ACN) next year,” says John du Pre Gauntt, a wireless industry analyst for eMarketer. We have a friend who did this. He makes a lot of money now. So yeah, we’re all the sudden less averse to this business plan.

This form of advertising is sure to grow as we collectively move toward the smart phone. However, it remains to be seen if this “pay-per-view” advertising form will hold up.

[Businessweek]

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Virgin pays subscribers to view ads

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for NET 10 Prepaid information on the web!

Virgin pays subscribers to view ads

First, mobile users have to sign up for the My Screen service. Why would someone voluntarily agree to receive ads on his or her phone? Get this: My Screen Mobile pays you for every ad you view. They put credits in your account, which are transferred at the end of the month and used to pay your bill. However, we couldn’t find out how much you get per ad viewed, or if you could control the number of ads sent to you.

My Screen Mobile takes the advertising a step further by having members fill out a questionnaire upon signing up for the service. This allows advertisers to hit specific demographics, thus cutting costs (presumably, they pay per advertisement sent). And, have we mentioned: you get paid for it!

Everyone (or at least almost everyone) has a cell phone, so it’s inevitable that we’ll start to see advertising penetrate that market. We’re glad, though, that someone came up with a decent model to screen those advertisements. The pay feature is enticing, though that depends on how much, really. Remember, you’re probably still being charged by your cell provider when you see these ads, so unless My Screen Mobile enters into agreements with those carriers, the compensation will have to be cost to the user and then some to make it worth it.

Still, it’s tough not to like this.

[Prime Newswire] [My Space Mobile]

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New mobile advertising group helps you cut your cell bill

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New mobile advertising group helps you cut your cell bill

But even if the Tar Heel copywriter had magically stumbled upon the perfect words that made every Gotham resident perfectly happy, the ads would still suck. Why? Replace Virgin Mobile’s logo with a Nike, Chase, Bud, Gawker, Trump or T-Mobile logo and, besides a slight copy tweak, nothing would have to be changed. The campaign lacks anything that ties it inexorably to Virgin Mobile—it could be for anybody and about anything. ‘You rule! Buy this ___ to rule more.’

We’re not in advertising, so this thought didn’t occur to us at first. So call us open to powerful suggestion, but this makes total sense. In order for an ad to be effective, it must tie into the product or service.

The only exception, as we see it, are comical 30-second interruption spots. You don’t want to see the ad in the first place, so some comic relief, followed by a quick sales pitch, can be effective for interruption marketing. However, for ads of Virgin’s ilk, you can’t just say anything and expect people to associate it with your product or service. People don’t have to look at your ad — there are thousands of others all around New York City.

Copyranter fully illustrates the problem: “I questioned a couple of ad acquaintances who had seen the ads. One remembered them being for Verizon and the other couldn’t remember who they were for…Nobody remembers the product.”

As we mentioned previously, Virgin plans to roll out this campaign to other cities. It was the father of modern advertising, John Wanamaker, who once said that “[h]alf the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” We thinks that Virgin might be able to quickly identify which half they’re wasting.

[Gawker]

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Virgin Mobile’s “You Rule” ads do not, in fact, rule

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Virgin Mobile’s “You Rule” ads do not, in fact, rule

Then we get an e-mail last night about, yes, another Virgin advertising campaign. In an attempt to expand their service in New York City, they’ve begun to place enormous ad posters and billboards all around the city. They feature the slogan “You Rule,” followed by, well, something that rules. For instance, they’ve used “Car-Service Drivers, You Rule.”

They’ve even come up with location-specific ads for various neighborhoods around New York City: Chelsea, Bed-Stuy, and Hell’s Kitchen among others. They even rolled out ads for Staten Island. Those, though, are causing a ruckus. Apparently, they offend some people. Judge for yourself:

Staten Island, you rule. The name says it all. You are truly an island, physically and mentally. Thank you for your front yards, detached garages and SUVs. Thank you for the ferry — the best cheap date ever. Thank you for being our down-to-earth, suburban, predominantly Italian-American cousins. To show our gratitude, we’ve got something for you. No, not baked ziti — cell phone plans without annual contracts, so you’re not locked in. And with no annual contract, you’re free to move between our other plans. Like you would on a bridge or ferry.

It seems harmless at first. However, these ads were written by an ad agency in North Carolina. Is it possible that they slipped in some subtle insults? Absolutely. Did they? Sorry, we’re not the ones to judge the intentions of others. But we understand why some people are pissed off.

[Gothamist] [Adweek] [Staten Island Advance]

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Virgin thinks you rule. What do you think of them?

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Virgin thinks you rule. What do you think of them?