Alcatel-Lucent, Placecast marry location with mobile ads

“When you use location with other information, you can make a much better determination of what someone is interested in,” Lenahan said. “They may have just called three tire stores and drive by a Starbucks en route to the tire store, and you’re going to send them a coffee ad? Let’s rethink that one. People keep focusing on LBS, because they’ve heard it before and it’s simple. It’s one piece of context. It is important, but I’m frustrated that people think it’s the only one. There is so much more richness in the network.”

Disbrow said that by letting consumers pick the brands they are interested in and the kinds of content they want to receive and when, Alcatel-Lucent and Placecast’s platform enables a higher level of targeting without having to mine any consumer data. Since the market for both mobile ads and LBS is still relatively new and hindered by privacy and security concerns, the companies are providing an entry point for carriers and brands that may otherwise not consider mobile.

Interest is growing, however, according to an ABI Research report released yesterday. The firm found that spending on mobile marketing and advertising in 2009 has been flat compared to 2008 if not slightly growing. Considering that ad spending has decreased in most other forms of media, it’s encouraging news for the industry. That being said, ABI found that if an advertiser or brand had mobile in their experimental budget, it most likely got cut due to the economy. If it was already an established part of the marketing mix, spending was maintained or upped.

Placecast already doing a number of mobile ad campaigns, according to Goodman, and has found that most brands are either eager to test mobile advertising or they are already beginning to incorporate it to their overall media budget. In Placecast’s experience, the economy is actually driving them to be more open to test mobile and learn from it. The companies have not announced any operator or brand partners, but Placecast’s existing customer base includes FedEx, BMW and Nike.

“We’ve reached a point in time where there as many owners of mobile phone over the age of 35 as under the age of 35,” Goodman added. “Marketers are aware that media consumption patterns are shifting, consumers are spending a lot of time getting information on their devices and they are working hard to integrate that into their marketing plans.”