Culture and media cannot be separated and hence advertising has a strong impact on culture and vice versa. It is interesting to see how media influence behavior and at the same times, accepts cultural changes and reflects the impact through advertising. One major example of this is the use of wireless communication. With increase in use of all wireless devices like ipods, iPhones and cell phones, the advertising has also taken on a new meaning ad method. Mobile advertising is now a common phenomenon where people get offers and deals even simple advertising messages through their wireless devices.
This shows how cultural changes impact advertising and how advertising in turn affects cultural trends. Advertising serves a very important purpose whether we admit it or not. It allows us to choose from a wide variety of alternatives. But what happens when advertising becomes a little too invasive. There is a good chance that your cell phone would soon be used as an advertising tool along with those iPods and other Bluetooth enabled devices. As mobile communication increases with 180 million users in the U.S. alone, it had only been a matter of time before advertising entered the field. As Bluetooth technology becomes popular and allows easy transfer of media files and iPod and cell phones permit storage of audio, video files and various types of images, advertisers have decided to explore this new medium of advertising.
We always knew that by the end of the first decade of 21st century, wireless devices would certainly become a common receiver of advertisements. In a recent survey, it was revealed that while most cell phone users were wary of the idea of advertising through mobile devices, they were open to the offer of opt-in advertising. "Though consumers aren't wildly enthusiastic about mobile advertising, about 20% of wireless phone users in a recent survey would find some form of advertising on their mobile handsets to be acceptable...Wireless users were most favorable toward...
But with the emergence of better technologies especially Bluetooth, the idea is shaping up faster than we had imaged. Four major mobile service providers in the U.S. have decided to open their service to advertising in order to reduce costs of subscription. Advertising may actually prove beneficial to users who may find themselves getting mobile plans at much cheaper rates as packages are likely to become more affordable. These major service providers will soon be incorporating "banner ads, text message marketing and short video commercials into their business models" according to CNET news.
But all handsets are not Bluetooth enabled and neither do they all have screen big enough for video commercials. So what are marketers really thinking? A report indicates that mobile advertising would first be tried through text messages since every single cell phone handset allows that. "In the U.S. cell-phone users now send some 2.5 billion text messages per month, according to data from the Mobile Marketing Assn. released last summer. And that's sure to grow: 80% of people carrying those devices have still never sent a text message." (Lacy, 2004)
Marketers are excited and they sure have a millions reasons to be. But what about the customers and how exactly will they be affected by wireless advertising. According to the research by In-Stat, consumers are not very excited about invasive advertising. They are willing to give opt-in advertising a chance. But advertisers may not need to beg for their messages to reach your handset since a large percentage of cell phone users are the youth who are usually more accepting of new technologies than older customers. Impact of this kind of advertising is not known yet. We will have to wait a few more years to see how it shapes up. There was a time when it was felt that pop-up advertising would help the…
