Mobile Advertising: you may welcome it!

It is becoming increasingly difficult for advertising to reach and be absorbed by the viewers, and the ad agencies are constantly using our growing collection of technology to find pathways to be seen and heard by their viewers. Mobile phones are the new carrier for our advertisements, resulting in a complete transformation of how we design our advertisements.

The reason of choice is largely due to mobile phones being the most popular form of communication in this generation, and its ability to be transported and viewed at all times. Research undertaken by Adweek, has provided some interesting results about the new form of advertising; it has found that, ‘1 in 7 people [surveyed in America] reported that they had bought a product or visited a store as a result of seeing a mobile advertisement’. Mobile advertising is becoming increasingly mainstream and, the funny thing is, people are welcoming it!

The use of mobile phones as an advertising courier has forced the advertisement agencies to improve dramatically in style and substance; otherwise people won’t seek, download and view their advertisements. Some new marketing ploys they have used include: discounts at stores, advertisements for films and musicians and the entertainment factor. Some brands want consumers watching their advertisements over and over again, so they’re employing games based around the brand to be played.

Technology has transformed the way we communicate and design our ‘documents’, it has improved our ability to engage people visually rather than just through blocks of text. It is viewed by Gunther Kress (1997) that visual representation is a rival to the written language, though if used correctly it can assist in the readability and translation of text. This is one great advantage technology, specifically computers, have created for both viewer and writer, as it has supplied a better way for the writer to communicate what they intend, and it in turn, provides the reader with further information through visual representations and design.

The many forms of communication have grown thanks to technology, giving the viewers more of an opportunity to view these documents, as opposed to only viewing them in books or newspapers. Today technology has created many carriers of documents, such as: the internet, mobile phones and televisions, giving us a wider knowledge base, better stylistic designs and an overall improvement on the once drab and plain printed publication.

Kress, G, 1997, Visual and verbal modes of representation in electronically mediated communication: the potentials of new forms of text, Allen & Unwin, St.Leonards, NSW

Pearce, J, 2004, Ads on your mobile: Believe it or not, you may welcome them, ZDNet Australia, viewed 2 November 2010, .

Dolliver, M, 2009, Advertising on Mobile Phones Now the Norm,viewed 3 November 2010,