Summary: New report shows that just over a fifth of smartphone owners could remember seeing an advert on their mobile device

The majority of smartphone owners rarely remember any ads they see displayed on their mobile browser, a new report has revealed.

In a bid to determine how effective mobile adverts are, ad solution company Azullo asked a total of 1,014 UK smartphone owners if they could remember any advertisement that they had seen on their device in the last six months.

However, in damning news for mobile marketers, Azullo found that just over a fifth (21 per cent) of respondents could remember seeing an advert on their mobile device.

Of the group who did remember seeing an advert, more than half (53 per cent) revealed that they could not recall the names of the products, brands or services being promoted in them. Moreover, even those who could remember the content of a mobile advert were unlikely to act on it, with the survey showing that just14 per cent would be more likely to buy the promoted product or service.

Nearly a fifth (17 per cent) of smartphone owners put their failure to remember a mobile ad simply down to having a bad memory but a larger proportion blamed a lack of originality and visibility in ads.

Over a third of respondents (34 per cent) said that the vast majority of adverts were not memorable, while 39 per cent said that the ads were of a poor quality and they therefore could not make out what they were supposed to advertise. This suggests that advertisers are not doing enough to ensure that they are tailoring their ads specifically for a mobile audience, let alone specific mobile devices, as many complained of seeing distorted ads.

More than eight in ten (81 per cent) complained that marketers were simply not doing enough to engage mobile phone owners.

Guy Cookson, co-founder of Respond, Azullo’s mobile ad solution, claimed that this is a deep lying problem that affects many firms throughout the mobile marketing industry.

“Most mobile ad formats are adapted from desktop. Banners ads are squeezed to fit far smaller spaces, with resulting compromises in clarity,” he said.

“Graphical ads are also often slow to load over mobile networks. This is no way to engage an audience, to invite discovery, to inform and delight.”

Although many firms are failing to create memorable ads, those advertising on Apple devices can at least take solace in the fact that the number of people using the i0S 6 operating system has soared since its release last week.

Mobile ad provider Chartboost has revealed that, after just 24 hours of the release of Apple’s latest operating system, more than 15 per cent of traffic on its network could be attributed to iOS users using iOS 6.

This figure has continued to grow by around five per cent each day, which means that adoption of the new system had nearly doubled within just three days of its release.

iPhone users were the quickest to upgrade to iOS 6, closely followed by owners of Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad.

Summary: New report shows that consumers in the Asia-Pacific region are nearly twice as likely to shop on the move than those in the West

Mobile phone users in the Far East are more likely to purchase items on their phone than their Western counterparts, a new survey has revealed.

Online Japanese retailer Rakuten polled a total of 12,000 people across the world to determine the global use of mcommerce and found that consumers in the Asia-Pacific region are nearly twice as likely to shop on the move than those in the West.

The poll shows that 15 per cent of Indonesians and 13 per cent of Thai respondents shop on their mobile phone, compared to just eight per cent of those in the US and UK.

Consumers across the world were more likely to embrace mcommerce on their tablet computer, with 14 per cent of Britons and 18 per cent of Italians using their device for mobile shopping. Once again though, tablet users in Asia were more likely to shop with their device as the adoption rate in Thailand reached 35 per cent.

Recent figures have shown that sales of tablet computers are up 142 per cent year-on-year in Western Europe, so why are so few tablet owners in the continent opting to make the most of their device?

It appears that many people, especially in Europe, are concerned about the security of shopping on a mobile device, with 27 per cent of UK respondents harboring concerns about the safety of entering their payment details on a smartphone or tablet. In comparison, just 14 per cent of Italian and Japanese mobile shoppers expressed their apprehension about mobile shopping.

Adam Stewart, marketing director of Rakuten’s Play.com, revealed that the firm is doing it all it can to convince UK shoppers that they are as safe shopping on their mobile as they are at home on their desktop.

“At Rakuten’s Play.com we have seen a nearly 120 per cent increase in traffic from mobile and tablet devices over the last 12 months; however there is still a gap between browsing and buying that we need to bridge,” he said.

“As an industry we need to build consumer confidence in mobile shopping platforms, by refining the shopping experience online, offering more mobile tailored offers to incentivise purchase and ensure mobile payments are secure, smooth and hassle free.”

Although mobile consumers in the East were more confident in the security of mobile shopping, there is still a general conception across the world that mobile devices provide an inferior shopping experience compared to a laptop or desktop computer.

This will be another aspect Rakuten and other online retailers will have to work on to persuade more consumers to switch to mobile shopping.

Another key finding of the report found that Brits are less likely than the Spanish and Italians to embrace social shopping, with only a quarter of UK mobile shoppers opting to share a product on social media. In comparison, half of Spanish respondents and 47 per cent of Italians are social shoppers.

Summary: New report forecasts that firms will spend between $22 million and $26 million annually on mobile marketing by 2015

The average company is set to spend up to $22 million (£13.6 million) on mobile marketing this year, according to a new report, with this figure set to rise significantly over the next three years.

The report, commissioned by IT consultancy firm Tata Consultancy Services, looked at how much firms generating revenues of $11.2 million per year are set to spend on marketing, selling and providing their service through mobile devices.

Tata’s report found that firms will spend between $13 million and $22 million on mobile marketing this year, with investment levels forecast to rise to between $22 million and $26 million annually by 2015.

The study, called The New Digital Mobile Consumer: How Large Companies are Responding, found that companies in Asia-Pacific are set to spend more on mobile this year than their counterparts in the US, Europe and Latin America.

In the Asia-Pacific region, firms will invest an average of $2.41 million on mobile marketing for every $1 billion they make in revenue. In comparison, businesses in the US will spend $1.43 million per $1 billion revenue, while those in Europe and Latin America will spend $1.59 million and $1.63 million respectively.

Looking ahead to 2015, firms across the world are set to increase their investment in mobile marketing, with those in Latin America set to boost their spending from $1.63 million to an incredible $2.72 million.

Firms in the Asia Pacific region will continue to spend the most ($2.85 million), while those in the US will spend $1.98 million and European firms will invest $1.76 million per every $1 million in revenue they generate.

N Chandrasekaran, chief executive and managing director for Tata Consultancy Services, urged firms to use the innovative technologies available to them to fully engage with mobile consumers.

He said: “The digital consumer is an exciting and complex customer segment that global corporations have to understand and engage with.

“These consumers are diverse in their need, their interactions are flexible and often conducted ‘in motion’. Keeping their attention means being able to serve their dynamic needs by leveraging the power of digital and mobile technologies to engage with them.”

“Businesses addressing this smart consumer segment must collect high quality data to understand them in real time; engage them in new and innovative ways; and reinforce their relationships through flawless technology interactions,” Mr Chandrasekaran added.

The study also underlined firms’ growing focus on mobile consumers, with 82 per cent of leading firms revealing that they have made the digital mobile consumer a unique market segment. Furthermore, 85 per cent of these respondents have created a new product and service specifically for mobile shoppers.

Despite this, there are firms across the world which are not embracing the opportunities offered by digital mobile consumers.

Just over a quarter (28 per cent) of poorly performing companies have made the digital mobile consumer a unique market segment and only 30 per cent of these businesses have created a new product or service just for this audience.

Leading companies were found to not only look at improving the purchasing process for mobile consumers but also consider how they can improve the entire mobile shopping experience.

Summary: New report shows that 73 per cent of SMBs will increase their investment in mobile advertising over the next 12 months

Nearly three quarters of small and medium businesses (SMBs) to increase mobile advertising spend over the next 12 months, according to new research.

Borrell Associates has published the results of a survey of 1,300 respondents, the majority of which were from the US, which showed that 73 per cent of SMBs will increase their investment in mobile advertising.

Sixty five per cent of this group plan to increase their spend by up to 30 per cent over the next year, while 32 per cent of SMBs plan to increase their mobile ad spend by between 11 and 20 per cent.

This figure could rise if SMBs see a higher return on investment (ROI) from their mobile marketing techniques, with nearly half (49 per cent) of SMBs that have previously invested in mobile advertising planning to increase ad spend further if ROI improves.

The report, conducted on behalf on behalf of marketing firm Pontiflex, also underlines other factors which would encourage SMBs to boost their investment in mobile marketing, with 26 per cent preferring to pay for signups than clicks (19 per cent) or impressions (six per cent).

With such a large proportion of mobile adverts sold either on a cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand impression model (CPM), it shows that many advertisers are failing to offer SMBs what they want.

Furthermore, three quarters of SMBs said that the ability to create location-specific ads was either very important or somewhat important in their mobile advertising campaigns.

“This survey shows that SMBs need real returns from mobile advertising, and CPC and CPM pricing models are just not working for them. SMBs want to use mobile ads to grow their businesses. To help them do so, the industry must innovate and try new things,” said Zephrin Lasker, chief executive and co-founder of Pontiflex.

The survey also underlined the fact that mobile advertising, despite its rapid growth, has failed to keep pace with the proliferation of mobile devices.

A report from market research firm Nielsen found that more than half of people in the US have smartphones but a study published by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) showed that mobile advertising currently accounts for less than five per cent of the total digital advertising spend.

Other findings from the report included the importance many small firms place on the ability to analyse the performance of a mobile campaign, with more than three quarters of SMBs considering this to be somewhat important or very important. Furthermore, 75 per cent of SMBs rated the ability to optimise campaigns in real time as very important or somewhat important.

Pontiflex is behind the mobile signup ad platform AdLeads, which allows firms to run location-based ads on top of mobile apps.

“At Jenson USA, we are passionate about connecting with bicycle lovers,” said Jason Scott, email marketing manager of online bicycle retailer Jenson USA.

“With AdLeads, we are able to reach these people on mobile devices and do it in a profitable way. We only pay for leads and not wasted clicks.”