Here’s what’s happening in mobile around the world
ASIAN BRANDS LACK A MOBILE STRATEGY
Many Canadian marketers look to Asian countries like South Korea and Japan for mobile inspiration, but a new study shows that less than a third (29%) of Asian brands have a formal mobile strategy. Of the ad agencies that responded in the study, conducted in February by Warc and the Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific, 42% said the majority of their clients had no mobile strategy.
“The study underlines the marketing industry’s uncertainty when it comes to the rapidly expanding mobile channel,” said Edward Pank, managing director at Warc Asia-Pacific.
MOBILE AD SPEND IN AUSTRALIA GREW 220% IN 2012
Mobile ad spend in Australia is booming and consistently exceeding forecasts, with mobile advertising driving much of the growth. In 2012, Australia’s mobile ad spend grew 220% to $86.2 million of the total $3.3 billion spent on online advertising, according to IAB Australia and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
IAB director of research Gai Le Roy said he expects the surge in mobile advertising to settle into a more sustainable growth rate, as online advertising growth did in Australia more than a decade ago in 2000.
By contrast, mobile ad spend is up 138% in China, which is currently leading the world in the number of iOS and Android installs.
INTUIT ENTERS THE U.K. AND HEATS UP BATTLE FOR MOBILE PAYMENTS
Intuit received a head start in the fight for market share in the mobile payment space when it launched in the U.K. earlier this month ahead of its two major competitors, PayPal and Square. The company produces a piece of hardware that attaches to a phone and provides a slot to swipe a credit cart, providing an alternative method of accepting payments using a smartphone.
The service, designed for small to medium-sized businesses, launched ahead of Square, a service created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey that is one of the leading services in Canada and the U.S.
PayPal’s mobile payment service, PayPal Here, is expected to launch in the U.K. this summer.
