The GSMA will launch its 'media packs for mobile' service in the second half of 2009.
It has greenlighted the project for a UK roll-out following the completion of a 'media metrics' feasibility study launched at Mobile World Congress in 2008.That project was conducted with the five UK operators - Telefónica O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and 3 - plus data gathering specialists such as ComScore/M:Metrics.
It aimed to create a base of 'anonymised, aggregated and audited' data. The idea is to make this available to agencies and brands so that they can target mobile users by region, demographics, time of day and so on.
This information can make mobile a legitimate option alongside TV, radio, posters when agencies buy media.
The project has massive potential. Although the GSMA is playing down the $250 billion market figure mentioned last year, the initiative clearly represents a tremendous opportunity for an industry looking to counter falling voice and data ARPUs.
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But what about the global recession? The GSMA believes this actually makes it the perfect time for action. Henry Stevens, director of media and entertainment at the GSMA, told ME: "It's more important that ever to get it going now. Advertising goes in cycles: this is our chance to get mobile metrics in place for the next upturn."
He also hopes that the project will spread quickly into other geographies. "Every region has its own way of doing things, but it's going to be so much quicker to launch when you have a live launch to study and replicate," he added.
The GSMA believes the programme will allow brands to understand how mobile can best complement other media in marketing plans. It found, for example, that the 7-10am period accounts for 22 per cent of total mobile minutes browsed, compared with only 11 per cent of minutes browsed by PC Internet users in the same hours.
The data also provides insight into the most popular sites, ranked by number of visitors, page impressions, time and duration of visits. Indeed, the results of the study of 167,648 mobile Internet sites show that 68 per cent of UK mobile users visit operator portal, Google is the top off-portal destination and Facebook is the top mobile site by time spent browsing.
The GSMA will now establish three further working groups, one each for advertisers, media/advertising agencies, and publishers. These working groups will confirm the measurement and reporting needs of each, and establish ‘common currency’ for mobile audience measurement.
