DCS- Mobile

It was only a year ago that I got my first smart phone yet I feel now as though I wouldn’t be able to cope without one.  My old Nokia phone was perfect all I needed it for was texting and making calls. Now, my Android smart phone allows me to take photos, video call, send texts and multimedia messages, keep up-to-date on Facebook and Twitter, play games, download numerous apps, listen to music and many other things.

Mobiles have been developing constantly since they arrived in the 1970’s. From the basic 1G , first generation of wireless technology mostly in the form of analogue to 4G which has higher speeds and a higher capacity at a lower cost which can lead to enhanced performance, it supports video streaming and has world wide access.

Denso Wave in 1994, created a two dimensional bar code which would allow its contents to be decoded at high speed, calling these bar codes “ Quick Response Codes” . They can be lcicked on and taken to a mobile site. QR codes can be relevant in the world of advertising and marketing because they can be highly useful in getting a brand or product noticed through the latest technology. However, not everybody with a smart phone is going to be interested in using QR codes. They can be placed in magazines, a newspaper, and posters or even embedded in a internet ad.

Stump et al (2008) said that “Mobile enables consumers to stay in constant contact with others; allows them to gather information, entertain themselves, and engage in transactions; and serves as an important element of identity construction and expression for many individuals.” For many people having a new or up-to-date mobile is very important, it is about social acceptance and being seen as “cool” especially in younger generations, people often talk about what applications they have on their phone and what they use them for, which could lead to the QR codes being used in response to advertising and word of mouth.  QR codes are the biggest driver of traffic to mobile internet.

Mcstay, (2010) claims that “mobile represents a range of opportunities for advertisers, sponsor and marketers” he said that one of the benefits of mobile advertising for businesses is the “ ability to target of-the-moment and close to real-time sales messages” This along with the benefit of mobile marketing being personal and trackable can be reasons why advertisers should start to use mobile marketing more.  Mobile advertising has been increasing quarter-on-quarter, and was worth £28.6m last year (Guardian, 2011)

This along with online advertising poses the question whether with all this increasing technology, will traditional advertising become less popular and relevant in years to come ?

Please feel free to comment if you have any opinions on mobile advertising.