Tue, 06/22/2010 – 11:56 by Unprofessional headline? Perhaps. However, as we all know, it’s only a matter of time before mobile access to the Internet on a global basis exceeds fixed-line access. Morgan Stanley, for example, has projected that this will happen by 2014. It won’t happen as quickly in the West; however in developing countries it may happen sooner.
Now, a new report from Interpublic subsidiary agency
Initiaitve shows some interesting and surprising things about mobile Internet usage and behavior. The company conducted a survey of 8,000 consumers in several countries: the UK, Italy, US, Sweden, China, India and South Korea.
MediaPost has a fairly extensive
write up; MediaWeek offers a
summary as well. Here are some of the high level takeaways and interesting bullets:
- 60% of mobile Internet access/usage is happening in the home and, in general, mobile Internet use happens throughout the day.
- Giving new meaning to the phrase “mobile first,” 30% of smartphone users start their day with mobile internet and 45% end with it.
- The heaviest smartphone-driven Internet usage happens in the evening (for 64% of respondents) — at home.
- Consumers are also using the mobile Internet while they’re doing other things: TV, radio, PC, print media.
The agency counseled that mobile advertising be used to “amplify” messages from other media. It also says that smartphones be partly thought of as devices that can respond to ads from other media. Ironically, mobile gives some “new life” to traditional media.
There are many other findings in the report about mobile Internet activities, apps and mobile payments.
The larger point that these data illustrate is that smartphone owners in the West and all mobile users otherwise are making this most personal of computers their primary Internet access device.
Marketers and publishers will need to contend with that reality sooner rather than later.
