Mobile marketing in the EU5 countries?Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy?reached 100 million mobile phone subscribers via SMS ads, according to comScore Inc.

Conversely, more than 57 million subscribers recalled seeing an ad on their mobile phone when browsing the Internet or accessing an application. Smartphone owners accounted for more than half of the subscribers who received and recalled seeing mobile Web and/or in-application ads.

?The rapid growth in mobile media consumption?browsing mobile Internet sites and the download of applications?fuelled by the ever increasing proportion of 3G enabled smartphones in the market is creating a wide range of inventory capable of carrying mobile advertising,? said Jeremy Copp, vice president of mobile for Europe at comScore, London.

?Advertisers are increasingly able to more accurately target their desired audience and this delivery of more relevant adverts aid consumer recall and increases response rates,? he said. ?The European mobile audience offers a significant volume of engaged consumers who are aware of, and respond to, advertising campaigns whether through SMS or display advertising on mobile Internet sites and within mobile applications.

?SMS advertising offers an attractive medium for consumer engagement and ongoing dialogue, with a large number of consumers willing to respond directly to campaigns.?

European mobile content usage
In September 2010, 82.1 percent of EU5 mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, while applications (excluding pre-installed games) were used by 26.2 percent and browsers by 27.7 percent of subscribers.

More than one quarter (25.2 percent) of European mobile phone owners listened to music on their mobile phone, while 16.7 percent accessed social networking sites or blogs.

More than 38 percent of the EU5 mobile audience accessed news and information and 24.9 percent played games.

More than 30 percent of mobile subscribers across the five European countries own a smartphone.

Half of European mobile users received ads via SMS
Across the EU5 countries, SMS ads reached 43.6 percent of the 230.5 million mobile users in September 2010, while Web and application ads were seen and recalled by nearly a quarter of the total mobile audience.

The most common type of SMS advert recalled was product, service or brand information, which more than 60 million mobile phone owners received, equaling a 26.3 percent reach across the EU5 countries.

SMS ads for donations to charities and nonprofit organizations reached 9.7 million people and 11.6 percent of subscribers that received this type of SMS responded at least once during the three month average ending in September 2010.

Coupons or discounts sent via SMS followed with a 10.3 percent response rate.

Out of the 33.4 million people who received an SMS that promoted a contest, 7.3 percent responded.

While SMS advertising about products, services or brands had the largest reach, the response rate was the lowest at 5.7 percent.

Smartphone users twice as likely to see Web/app ads
In September 2010, 24.8 percent of all mobile users in the EU5 countries?Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy?recalled seeing ads within an application or when browsing online via their mobile device.

Smartphone users were twice as likely to be exposed to mobile advertising as the average mobile subscriber, with 50 percent of all 64.3 million smartphone users recalled seeing a Web or in-application ad.

Britain topped the ranking with nearly two out of three smartphone users having recalled seeing an ad while browsing or using an application, followed by French smartphone owners, of which more than half saw a mobile Web or in-application ad.

Mr. Copp said that while the majority of mobile advertisements are still effectively distributed via SMS, and good response rates indicate acceptance among mobile phone owners, the growing smartphone adoption across all EU5 countries continues to enable the emergence of richer mobile advertising.

Mobile Web and application ads increase the possibilities of accessing prime audiences and provide advertisers with additional marketing opportunities beyond traditional mobile techniques, per comScore.

?There is significant reach of mobile advertising and marketing in Europe: 44 percent of consumers in the EU5 countries?more than 100 million people?received SMS adverts and nearly a quarter of the audience have been exposed to display advertising within mobile Internet sites or applications,? Mr. Copp said.

?Smartphone users are twice as likely to see mobile display advertising as the average mobile subscriber,? he said. ?The advertising industry generally works on the assumption that a very small proportion of the campaign audience respond to advertisements.

?ComScore?s data shows that mobile consumers have a significant disposition to engaging with SMS advertising, with between 5.7 percent and 11.6 percent of the EU5 mobile users exposed to campaigns responding within the survey period.?