Advertisers need to deliver more creative and relevant mobile advertising or risk losing consumer engagement entirely. That’s the headline conclusion of Mobile & Me – The Remodelled Brand Opportunity, a new report from Quantcast that explores the mobile behaviour and preferences of consumers in the UK, France and Germany.

The research was commissioned by Quantcast and conducted by Censuswide with 3,101 consumers in the UK, France and Germany with a mobile phone aged 16+ between 4 December 2015 and 6 Jan 2016.

The report reveals that 37 per cent of consumers expect ads received on their mobile phones to be more relevant than on other devices, while 40 per cent say that they wish mobile advertising was more creative. While among the much sought after 16-34 year old age range, expectations on both relevancy and creativity are even higher with 47 per cent and 51 per cent demanding more relevance and creativity respectively

The study also reveals that mobile advertisers are unknowingly interrupting ‘me-time’. 51 per cent of respondents said they find mobile ads more intrusive than ads received on their desktop or tablet. Additionally, almost half the respondents said that advertising received on their mobile phones that is not relevant to them negatively impacts their overall perception of a brand – a frustration felt more acutely by 16-34 years olds (54 per cent) than older generations.

On a more positive note, 64 per cent of consumers said they have been influenced to purchase elsewhere by mobile advertising – 80 per cent among 16-34 year olds. On average, respondents said they buy goods or services on their mobile phones just over once a week, with 41 per cent frequently researching purchases on their mobile phones.

59 per cent of respondents said they would be more willing to accept mobile advertising if it was relevant to them, while 33 per cent said they would be more likely to buy from a brand that only showed them relevant advertising – an average that jumps to 43 per cent among 16-34 year olds;
More creative ads can also drive consumer influence for brands: a third of respondents said they would be increasingly influenced by more creative adverts – 48 per cent among 16-34 year olds.

“By 2018, more time will be spent accessing the internet on mobile devices than on all other devices combined,” said Quantcast UK MD, Matt White. “For advertisers, connecting with consumers while they are on their mobile phones is becoming a must-do, not a nice to do. But what our research shows is that the majority of brands are currently missing the mark with their mobile ads. There is a huge pool of potential buyers behind those screens, but brands need to act now and appropriately engage with the mobile-generation by putting relevancy and creativity at the centre of their mobile strategies.”