Vodafone & O2 UK plan to make it big with mobile advertising

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone and O2 have announced their separate plans to establish and develop mobile advertising. Both the British operators are likely to use their already locally targeted campaigns and offer advertisers further opportunities to reach wider audiences for effective promotions. O2 has launched a new initiative which promotes Fitness First, uses location specific text messages. Subscribers who live near to a Fitness First gym will be offered five days free membership and a session with a personal trainer through SMS. Managing Director of O2 Media, Shaun Gregory said, ‘Through putting the customer at the heart of our thinking, we’re able to offer truly unique media offerings that break new ground and drive market leading response rates’.
Vodafone on the other hand also plans geography based advertising after it experienced a success in an 18-month campaign to expand mobile advertising services in 18 markets. The operator reported that despite of economic slowdown, advertising contributed to stronger revenues for the operator. Rick Fant, Head of Internet Discovery at Vodafone said, ‘Mobile advertising offers a combination of great response rates alongside the opportunity for advertisers to reach out to and engage with their customers.’