The Need for Mobile Measurement
By Laura Marriott | May 31, 2007

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Consumer acceptance will be paramount to increasing mobile marketing and advertising spend. And bringing additional marketing dollars into the mobile category is critical for growth for all industry players.

Today, the dollars for mobile marketing spend controlled by brand marketers might be characterized as "test and learn." Before allocating a more significant budget to mobile, brands require a deep understanding of:

• The role the medium plays in the overall mix
• Consumer acceptance of brand messaging
• Consistent guidelines and best practices to ensure rapid deployment across brands and geographies
• Evidence of effectiveness and value

As with the Internet, measurement will become a crucial element to quantify the mobile opportunity to drive brand involvement. But mobile works differently.

The mobile value chain presents a complex model for effective measurement, given the number of players involved and the necessary access to information that has historically been available in operator networks only. So what must we, as an industry, do to drive the brand spend and marketing effectiveness measures?

Define ad currencies. It's pretty simple when you think about it, but defining what we're measuring is the perfect place to start. In mobile, we have mobile Web, downloadables, mobile search, mobile video and television, and so forth, all of which must have a set of currencies on which to base measurement.

Define the currencies and sync with existing guidelines. Equally important is to define the ecosystem and each player's role.

Quantify elements for success. Once you have the currencies, define the success elements for mobile, allowing brand marketers to understand what works.

Measure the medium. Once you have all the tools in place, measure mobile's effectiveness in cross-media marketing communications initiatives (similar to the XMOS and ROMO studies conducted by Marketing Evolution). Determining what and how much to allocate to mobile is critically important to driving ongoing spend to the channel.

According to Tom Daly of Coca-Cola, measurement will be the next element to help a brand determine the right mobile spend and prioritize mobile against other media. What's important is gaining the input and leadership from the critical players in the ecosystem. And it will take the cooperation of all key constituents -- including professional organizations, leading brand marketers, content providers, and wireless operators -- to develop a measurement initiative that achieves the level of information brands require to move ahead with their mobile investments. Are you ready?