Perhaps the biggest find from the survey was that consumers would be willing to download ad-supported mobile video, especially if the advertising was integrated into the content. In other words, porn producer A could offer a mobile video download of a girl-girl scene involving a specific brand of vibrator, during which an ad for that vibrator could be integrated into the download.
“This is a new type of media, and it has created a new type of consumer,” Starcom Vice President Richard Fielding said. “An in-depth understanding of how consumers respond to and interact with mobile video is crucial to fostering meaningful advertising engagement.”
According to the study, which surveyed 1,000 consumers age 13 and older, the Video iPod is a long way off from replacing the television. The overwhelming majority of respondents said they would prefer to watch longer-format materials on their home TVs, suggesting shorter video segments would do best on the iPod format.
Similarly, cellphones were not considered optimal video devices by most of the study’s participants. While almost 65 percent of those studies said they would watch a movie on their iPod or similar MP3 player, only 40 percent said they would do so on their cellphones.
Although consumers not surprisingly reported they would prefer to download ad-free content, Fielding said the implications of ad acceptance were huge, contributing to what he predicts will be massive growth in the mobile advertising market.
“Meaningful advertising engagement … will surely proliferate on these small screens in the not-too-distant future,” he said.