Is Your Brand Fluent on Mobile?

The fact that consumers are going mobile is no secret; especially to those of you who join us here on a weekly basis.  In a year (2009) when all other forms of media consumption as well as media spending decreased, it came as no surprise to me that mobile was the only channel of media which increased dramatically.  The question becomes not if consumers are going mobile – they are, but how and why our mobile devices are becoming our most important?

According to the Yankee Group, in their 2009 Advertising Forecast Update, consumers spent the most time per day Online; averaging 4 hours and 13 minutes per day.  However, even at four plus hours Online was down 17% from the prior year (2008).  Mobile was the fourth most popular media channel, with consumers spending an average of 1 hour and 18 minutes per day.  Conversely, Mobile was up 39% over the prior year.  This rise can be attributed to increased talk time, texting and most importantly Mobile Web; which according to the Yankee Group increased 36% to 11 minutes.

While the Yankee group clearly defined the Online channel as “web browsing, e-mailing and social networking” they failed to define the Mobile segment.  It’s safe to say that while traditional Online, as defined above on a PC, may have decreased, consumers are still spending their time online – they’re just doing so from their Mobile Devices.