The document summarizes the results of a survey of 100 major brands and advertisers on their mobile advertising performance and future spending. Key findings include: - 60% of non-mobile marketers plan to employ mobile advertising in 2010 and spending is expected to increase significantly from 2009 to 2010. - Mobile advertising performance meets or exceeds expectations for most respondents. - While internal resources remain a barrier, over 80% of agencies who have run mobile campaigns have developed internal resources to support them.

1. The State of the Industry:
Mobile Advertising
A Survey of Over 100 Major Brands & Advertisers
on Performance & Future Spend
Written by: Melinda Gipson, DM2PRO Co-Presented by: Millennial Media

2. Table of Contents
PAGE 3: Executive Summary
PAGE 4: Forecasted Mobile Advertising Spend
PAGE 5: Who is Buying Mobile Advertising
PAGE 6: Leveraging Mobile Targeting
PAGE 6: Causes for Campaign Under-performance
PAGE 7-8: Brands On Mobile Advertising
PAGE 9: Barriers to Entry
PAGE 10: Conclusion
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3. Executive Summary
Millennial Media collaborated with DM2Events.com in an in-depth exploration of attitudes and spending
plans of leading marketers and publishers to help us offer benchmarks for attendees at our Sept. 17th
digiday:MOBILE conference. To complete, “The State of the Industry”, we surveyed 100 leading agencies to
compile an in-depth analysis of mobile advertising performance and forecasts of future spending. As the
mobile advertising industry continues to evolve, this data provides a critical view on where the industry
stands today: where the industry, is and is not, exceeding advertiser’s expectations and why advertisers are
planning to buy mobile in the future.
With 60 percent of non-mobile marketers planning to employ mobile advertising in 2010, the increase in
mobile spend is among the leading highlights. Mobile spending is expected to increase next year, with 31
percent of agency respondents stating that they will invest between $100K and $249K. More than 15
percent (15.4 percent) plan to invest more than $1 million. More than half of Q4 mobile campaigns will
represent between 1 percent and 10 percent of their clients’ total spending, but, for a few, that number will
be a whopping 40 percent - 50 percent. Current participation remains high with nearly ¾ of the 100 leading
agencies that responded to “The State of the Industry” stating that they have developed mobile campaigns
for themselves or a client. Meanwhile, 28 percent have not taken the plunge.
Mobile advertising performance meets expectations and remains valuable. Among those who have
executed mobile campaigns, 78 percent of respondents said the medium met their campaign goals, and an
additional 9 percent said mobile performed “beyond our wildest expectations.” For most agencies (89
percent), the mobile facet of a campaign is just one portion of a multi-platform buy. But nearly a third (30
percent) said mobile has become an “indispensable” part of the media mix. Another 67 percent ranked
mobile as “somewhat valuable” and only 2 percent said it was not valuable in their overall media mix.
An additional takeaway, internal resources remain a barrier to entry. More than 80 percent of agencies who
have participated in mobile campaigns have hired or developed internal resources to support them. Nearly
90 percent stated they are typically the ones to suggest that a client employ mobile as part of their
campaign strategy. Still, it often involves multiple partners to expertly execute on the promise of mobile
media. Partners include technology, metrics, buying network and app developer resources among others.
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009.
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4. Forecasted Mobile Advertising Spend
Satisfaction will likely translate to greater spending in the coming year. While the largest cohorts said they
are spending less than $100,000 on mobile advertising in 2009, the most popular answer for 2010 was
between $100,000 and $250,000. Those spending up to a half million dollars tripled, as did those spending
between a half million and $1 million. More than 15 percent of respondents plan to invest more than $1
million with the top tier, where 2.6 percent, project spending of greater than $5 million.
The fourth quarter will see a ramp up in mobile spending compared with last year. While the largest
cohorts of agencies’ 2008 holiday spending, 38 percent, was zero, 33 percent said 2009 spending will
represent between 1 percent and 5 percent of their clients’ holiday marketing. For nearly 20 percent, that
figure climbed between 5 and 10 percent (Figure 1).
How much is your projected mobile spending for 09/10? (Respondents: Agencies)
(Figure 1)
52.2%
21.7%
4.3% Less than $100K
2009 Spending $100K - $249K
2.2%
$250K - $499K
10.9% $500K - $999K
$1MM - $5MM
>$5MM
8.7% Don’t know
23.1%
30.8%
12.8%
2010 Spending
7.7%
12.8%
2.6%
10.3%
0 5 10 15 20 25
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009, page 14.
Millennial Media 2009.
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5. Who is Buying Mobile Advertising
The CPG, Retail, Entertainment, Travel and Restaurant categories are expected to lead mobile
spending. Engagement leads the number one sought return for an investment in mobile marketing,
though “opt-in”, or list building, was cited as the most likely goal for Q4 campaigns.
Most agency respondents were relative novices, having completed 10 or fewer mobile campaigns;
however, 17 percent of respondents had completed between 10 and 50 campaigns and 11 percent
had completed more than 100.
Mobile networks represent the leading means by which agencies target their mobile campaigns. In
fact, 80 percent of mobile campaigns employed a mobile ad network of some kind and about half of
those have a single favorite provider (Figure 2).
On average, how many mobile ad networks do you/do you
clients employ for the typical mobile campaign? (Respondents: Agencies)
(Figure 2)
1 40.0%
2 40.2%
3 2.2%
More than 3 15.6%
None (we buy directly 8.9%
from publishers)
None (we only
develop targeted apps.) 11.1%
0 5 10 15 20
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009, page 24.
Millennial Media 2009.
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6. Leveraging Mobile Targeting
By far the most commonly used form of targeting was geography (52.2 percent), followed
by age (39 percent) and gender and behavior at 28 percent respectively (Figure 3).
However, the demographic or behavior that is targeted with mobile media can vary by
campaign. Said one agency respondent, “We are using [mobile advertising] for every
target. The big question is: Does the mobile idea conceptually work with the campaign?”
In optimizing your mobile campaigns, do you target by (Respondents: Agencies)
(Figure 3)
Geography 52.20%
Age 39.10%
Gender 28.30%
Behavior 28.30%
Location 26.10%
Carrier 17.40%
Channel 15.20%
Handset 13.00%
Platform 10.90%
Income 6.50%
Metadata 2.20%
One-to-one 0.00%
All of the above 13.00%
None of the above 10.90%
0 5 10 15 20 25
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009, page 26.
Millennial Media 2009.
Causes for Campaign Under-performance
When a campaign was judged to underperform the primary reason cited, by far, was
insufficient reach (26 percent of respondents), followed by “wrong creative”, which was
cited by 18 percent of respondents. The one thing most agencies cited to improve their
mobile marketing experience was “standardization of device interfaces or ad units.”
“Technology barriers” were cited as being more responsible for underperforming
campaigns than reach, and one respondent admitted, “We didn’t promote it heavily
enough or far enough in advance,” making clear that even a substantial investment in
mobile media can be enhanced with collateral marketing.
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7. Brands On Mobile Advertising
Brand advertisers responding to the survey were generally less experienced than their agency
counterparts. Only 48 percent of respondents had developed a mobile campaign, application or a
persistent mobile presence. Yet, when brands find what works, they are inclined to repeat it. Some
12.5 percent of the total surveyed had each completed between 10 and 50 campaigns, between 50
and 100, and more than 100 campaigns. Consistent with agencies that have tried mobile
advertising, 75 percent of brand advertisers said the medium either met or went beyond their
wildest expectations for their campaigns.
Double the number of agency respondents – 63 percent – labeled mobile advertising an
“Indispensable” part of their overall media mix (Figure 4).
How do you view mobile as part of the overall media mix? (Respondents: Brands)
(Figure 4)
Indispensable 62.5%
Somewhat valuable 37.5%
(nice to have)
Not valuable
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009, page 39.
Millennial Media 2009.
Only roughly two-thirds of brand marketers have internal resources to support their mobile
campaigns. Logically, an equal number rely on agencies and technology partners. It would also
appear that brands rely on their agency in this context to employ a buying network, as they are
twice as likely to rely on metrics, creatives and carriers as they are upon such networks. More than
83 percent say that they accomplish mobile targeting “through our ad network partners.”
Of course, brands also claim to be the ones to bring up mobile most often in campaign strategy
sessions (88 percent state, “typically, we bring it up”).
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8. Brands On Mobile Advertising (continued)
Projected mobile spending by brands reveals a much larger jump than it did for agencies, though the
total number of respondents was smaller. While half the brand respondents pegged their 2009
spending at less than $250,000, the same percentage projected 2010 spending between $250,000 and
$5 million. As an average value, brand respondents forecast at least a 15 percent increase (Figure 5).
How much is your projected mobile spending for 09/10? (Respondents: Brands)
(Figure 5)
25.0%
25.0%
12.5%
2009 Spending Less than $100K
12.5%
$100K - $249K
12.5%
$250K - $499K
12.5%
$500K - $999K
$1MM - $5MM
12.5%
>$5MM
25.0%
Don’t know
25.0%
2010 Spending
25.0%
12.5%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009, page 44.
Millennial Media 2009.
The most popular campaign goal for brands was surprisingly not “Awareness,” but the metric they most
used to measure their investment was “Engagement” (Figure 6).
If I did do mobile advertising, my main success would be (Respondents: Brands)
(Figure 6)
Engagement 31.7%
Acquisition/Opt-in 22.0%
CTR to my Web site 17.1%
Purchase 17.1%
Loyalty/Retention 7.3%
Awareness 4.9%
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009, page 111.
Millennial Media 2009.
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9. Barriers to Entry
Among marketers who had not yet tried mobile advertising, the majority, 53 percent, cited the lack of
internal resources to support their primary reason for refraining (Figure 7). However, marketers seem
to be gaining confidence, based on the testimony of their peers. Of those who have not fielded
mobile campaigns, 60 percent will do so in Q4 or in 2010.
What is the main reason why you haven't developed a mobile campaign or Website? (Respondents: Agencies)
(Figure 7)
No internal resources 52.8%
Don’t know where to start 30.6%
Too complex 19.4%
Not our target market 19.4%
Too expensive 8.3%
Insufficient reach 8.3%
Insufficient targeting 8.3%
Not measurable 2.8%
0 5 10 15 20
Source: DM2PRO – “State of the Industry: Mobile Survey” – September 21, 2009, page 112.
Millennial Media 2009.
This “State of the Industry Survey” was conducted in collaboration with DM2PRO.com, the membership site for digital media and marketing
professionals. The full slide deck can be downloaded from the research section of the site, using the promotion code, “MOBILEPRO.”
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10. Conclusion
Written by: Millennial Media
Mobile advertising presents brands and agencies with creative, engaging and innovative solutions
that drive user interaction and ultimately deliver campaign goals. Data continues to support this.
Leading mobile advertising networks, like Millennial Media, offer significant advantages in the mobile
planning process. Our industry experts provide a full range of resources and mobile specific solutions
to deliver maximum campaign performance and to meet your unique goals. Providing a seamless
mobile advertising buying process, Millennial Media provides the greatest opportunity to reach and
target your audience with our industry-leading technology and reach.
To learn more about mobile advertising opportunities with Millennial Media please visit our website:
www.millennialmedia.com or Contact Us at marketing@millennialmedia.com.
About Millennial Media
Millennial Media, the largest and fastest growing mobile advertising network in the U.S., offers the only
true, end-to-end platform for mobile advertising – with full-service and self-service solutions designed
to meet a vast spectrum of advertising objectives. The company is committed to growing the mobile
advertising marketplace by becoming the preferred partner to all advertisers seeking to reach mobile
consumers, all publishers seeking to maximize ad revenue, and all mobile operators seeking to further
monetize their networks. For more information, please visit http://www.millennialmedia.com or follow
us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/millennialmedia.
About DM2PRO
DM2PRO.com is a knowledge base for digital media and marketing professionals affiliated with
DM2Events.com and digiday:DAILY. Membership of $20/month affords access to all the
digiday:EVENTS video (including digiday:MOBILE and digiday:APPS), plus state of the industry surveys,
how-to tutorials on cutting edge media genres, plus winning creative and content award entries for
the MOBI, SAMMY and DPAC Awards. Joining the community portion of the site is free, and gives
members a platform where they can share white papers and recent campaigns and post video and
audio for other community members. We think you'll agree it's the first site of its kind that treats
professionals like you like grown-ups with as much to contribute as our own professional staff. We use
@DM2PRO as a kind of user-generated assignment desk, and strive to live up to our tag-line, which is,
"when you NEED to know."
For questions about the data in this report, or for recommendations for future reports,
please contact us at research@millennialmedia.com.
©2009 Millennial Media, Inc. All rights reserved. All product names and images are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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