Advertising Challenges in Ubiquitous Media Environments

Introduction

The diffusion of new mobile technology, rapid growth of mobile phone penetration and the improvements of mobile device capabilities are trends that have led to an increased interest in mobile advertising (m-advertising). The unique features of mobile devices such as their mobility, personalization, interactivity, and location awareness enable advertisers to reach consumers anytime and anywhere with targeted advertising adapted to consumers preferences and location. Indeed, this phenomenon has attracted the interest of academia as well as industry.

The interest of academic scholars has led to numerous studies of mobile marketing and advertising. Commonly, studies have been focused on the effects of m-advertising and consumer attitudes and behavior (see e.g. Bauer et al., 2005; Heinonen & Strandvik, 2007; Läppäniemi, 2007; Merisavo et al., 2007; Okazaki, 2004; Scharl et al., 2004; Tsang, 2004). Research representing the advertiser point of view is not as common, examples are studies on m-advertising success factors (Vatanparast & Butt, 2009), mobile marketing strategy (Okazaki, 2005), challenges for ubiquitous advertising (Ihlström Eriksson & Åkesson, 2008) and factors influencing m-advertising value from an advertiser as well as a consumer point of view (Komulainen et al., 2006; Vatanparast, 2007).

One industry that has shown special interest in m-advertising is the newspaper industry. The digitization of news media has led to the emergence of new opportunities but also to disruptive implications for traditional media (Christensen & Davis, 2006). Lately, the newspaper industry has experienced declining circulation and advertising revenues of their printed editions forcing them to seek new opportunities in digital media (The Economist, 2006). Many newspaper organizations have met this changing media landscape by organizing themselves as media houses publishing in multiple channels such as print, online, PDAs, and mobile phones. The vision is a future media environment supporting device independent, anytime, anywhere publishing, i.e. a Ubiquitous Media Environment (UME) (Åkesson & Ihlström Eriksson, 2008).

However, the digitalization of news publishing has not been trouble-free to the newspaper industry. It has been very difficult to identify business models and value networks that enable profitable online business. The same difficulty is now experienced in publishing mobile services. Now yet another mobile device, the e-reader with e-paper displays (for example the iRex iLiad or the Amazon Kindle) is introduced as a digital publishing channel. Indeed, mobile devices and wireless access to content do not only offer new opportunities but also challenges the core business of the newspaper industry. Since the revenue from advertising is the backbone of newspaper economy, there is a need to innovate advertising models in order to offer new values to advertisers and maintain a strong position on the advertising market.