[1]Bell Media [1] has shared preliminary findings from its fourth annual Canadian Mobile Media Snapshot. The 2011 research illustrates the strong link between mobile media use and brand awareness, favourability and purchase intent.
Among the key findings:
- 82% of mobile media users agree that mobile media is a good way to learn about new products and brands
- 80% of mobile media users agree that mobile media can influence them to investigate a product or service
- 71% of mobile media users agree that mobile media can change the way they think about a product or service
- 65% of mobile media users agree that mobile media can influence them to buy a product or service
“The importance of mobile in daily life has already been well established. What these findings underline is a clear opportunity for brands to impact their key metrics by using mobile media and advertising,” says Jonathan Dunn, Associate Director, Mobile Sales and Marketing, Bell Media Digital. “We are seeing increasingly positive attitudes towards mobile advertising from consumers with nearly 30% of mobile media users citing excellent experiences with mobile ads.”
Of those surveyed, over half had purchased their phone in the last year leading to a smartphone penetration percentage within the survey sample of 56%. This is consistent with the Canadian Wireless and Telecommunications Association’s recently published figures for Smartphone use among key urban demographics in their 2011 Cell Phone Consumer Attitudes Study. These figures align with carrier device sales and widely available projections for Smartphone adoption in the next 6-12 months.
“Conscious of the dramatic acceleration of Smartphone adoption in Canada, the research we released provides much more than a trailing view of the market,” says Dunn. “The 2011 Canadian Mobile Media Snapshot was structured to ensure our sales teams and agency partners have access to data that can be confidently applied to proactive campaign planning.”
Canadian mobile users are also issuing a call to action for Canadian brands to make more content mobile friendly. When asked what would encourage them to use the mobile Internet more, the top reasons respondents gave all spoke to issues solved by more mobile-optimized sites including: sites better designed for mobile browsing; easier to use mobile sites; and more mobile sites.
“The feedback is significant in that it provides clear indication that Canadians have an appetite to engage with brands on mobile but are frustrated by web experiences designed exclusively for desktop,” said Dunn.
The Canadian Mobile Media Snapshot researched consumer use habits and preferences by device, operating system, content consumption and time and place-based use amongst Canadian mobile owners aged 16-64 across Canadian provinces. Age, gender and geographic lenses have been applied to the data to ensure brands working with Bell Media Digital Sales have access to highly relevant and actionable data about their target customer segments in a way that is consistent with existing planning practices.