Verve: Location-Based Mobile Creative Drives 2X Consumer Engagement

Verve Study: Mobile Creative Powered by Location Drives 2X Consumer Engagement

Sudipto Ghosh

March 26, 2018

New Verve Study Offers Insights to Ensure Advertisers Are Unlocking the Power of Various Data Sources, Including Location Insights, When Producing Their Ad Creative

Where people move tells marketers a lot about what they are, and what they prefer to see and buy. The data signals from mobile devices enable marketers to create unique marketing experiences. A critical research undertaken by Verve, a location-based mobile marketing platform finds that consumers are twice as likely to interact with mobile ads informed by location insights compared to generic ads.

The findings also reveal that a mobile ad related to consumers’ hobbies and interests drives more than twice as much engagement than with a generic ad on their mobile. In addition to this, of those who engaged with mobile ads over a third (33%) said they would interact with an ad related to where they plan to be in the future.

At the time of this announcement, Ian James, GM International at Verve, commented, “It is evident that more needs to be done to ensure advertisers are making full use of the data sources available to create exciting ad experiences on mobile. The key is to begin any campaign plan with a strong and robust objective, followed by a smart understanding of creative executions to build the best possible experience.”

Still, advertisers must ensure they are using data effectively to inform their creative campaigns for the mobile screen. Findings suggest this is not currently the case: over half of consumers (56%) think most ads they see on their mobile are boring or dull and just one in ten (11%) find them helpful.

As a result, the average person in the UK ignores over seven mobile ads each day. When looking at the national population, this figure translates to a massive 20 million ads ignored every hour and 5,500 every second.

“Too often people are either ignoring ads because they are simply not relevant or they find it difficult to see creative on their mobile devices.” – Ian James, GM Internation, Verve

When it comes to being fit for purpose, ads must be created in the right format for mobile – almost 8 in 10 Brits (78%) have seen ads that are simply too small to read or contain too much text.

“We worked with Verve to create a rich-media game on behalf of Goodwill®. The game was geo-targeted and highly engaging for our audiences,” said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO, the Ad Council.

Lisa added, “We drove a record-breaking number of people to learn more about Goodwill’s mission of providing job opportunities, training and placement, and how they can support those efforts. We were blown away by the results.”

There are various methods, creative formats, and datasets brands can use to improve engagement, and drive their campaign results and advertising sustainability. For example, people are likely to interact with an ad that —

They can play with on their phone through mechanics such as tilt, tap, zoom, change point of view (20%)
Is like a game or encourages them to navigate through it (19%)
Asks a question and expects a response (21%)

Ian James added, “As an industry, we need to be working together. Firstly, to ensure advertisers are unlocking the power of various data sources, including location insights, when producing their ad creative. Secondly, to make brands aware of how to identify data that is both accurate and precise to make sure ads are as relevant as possible. Finally, to educate brands on the multitude of creative formats that work specifically for mobile.”

Ian added, “The expectation of personalization from today’s consumer is on the rise, bringing to the fore the sheer importance of using smart datasets to power creative experiences.”

Currently, Verve provides industry-recognized mobile expertise and technology that deliver maximum profitability by generating demand and improving ad performance.