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Will consumers opt-in for mobile ads in the future?

via: GoMoNews

Latin American operator Claro Brazil today announced a deal with advertiser MyScreen Mobile. The two companies have confirmed they will be launching an opt-in mobile advertising service in Brazil by the end of the year. What will service entail, and is opt-in the way to go in mobile?

How does it work?

The service combines mobile advertising with loyalty points. MyScreen runs an opt-in service, which displays full-screen ads on your mobile screen at the end of each call you make or receive. When you sign up for MyScreen, you create a profile so that the advertisers can display content relevant to your interests and demographics. And in return for viewing these ads, Claro will provide subscribers with points that they can redeem for rewards from the operator (we’re guessing free voice minutes and SMS).

From the release:

Maurizio Angelone, CEO at MyScreen: “Through this partnership with MyScreen, Claro is demonstrating a clear commitment to its forty plus million subscribers in Brazil as they participate in bringing a whole new level of rewards to them.”

Claro Brazil CEO Joao Cox: “Claro subscriber’s will benefit by receiving free services while receiving ads and special offers from the brands they love, we see this innovative partnership including subscribers, advertisers, Claro and MyScreen as a first step towards ad supported services at Claro.”

What we think?

Nice one, MyScreen! Claro Brazil has over 40 million subscribers. If even a small percentage of those have devices capable of displaying full screen ads, then there’s a huge potential audience there.

A lot of people, myself and Claro included, think that opt-in has a huge role to play in the future of mobile advertising. A point that is raised again and again by advertisers is that mobile is the most personal route you can use to contact a consumer. Everyone has their mobile device with them all the time – you’re more likely to leave your wallet or car keys behind than your mobile. But the negative side to that is that unsolicited advertising is far more aggravating on mobile than it is through any other medium. Nothing is more likely to turn a consumer off than getting an unwanted SMS from some irrelevant advertiser. Opt-in overcomes that by letting the consumer decide ahead of time whether they want ads or not, and what kind of ads they’ll be served. And the reward angle gives them a good reason to want those ads.