Fairfax: 2011 really will be the year of mobile
Following a spectacular rise in the consumption of Fairfax news content on mobile devices, the company’s digital head has predicted that 2011 really will be the year of the mobile.
Jane Huxley, Fairfax Digital’s general manager, media, told Mumbrella that while there have been false dawns for mobile, this year will be a watershed period for the medium.
“We’ve said so many times: this is the year of mobile. But this year, and fiscal year 2012, most certainly will be,” she said.
“Prices are coming down for data plans. The likes Google, Apple and Nokia are innovating in the space. And there’s an endless thirst to be plugged in to news on the go. Which is why we’re aggressively driving the business in this direction.”
According to Nielsen Online figures, consumption of Fairfax news content grew by 762%, to a total of around 160,000 daily unique browsers across its mobile sites, between January 2010 and January 2011.
Fairfax mobile sites include Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times, RSVP, The Good Food Guide and WA Today, pulling in a combined monthly audience of around 1 million users.
Huxley attributed this growth to the rapid uptake of smart phones and tablet computers and the “transferability of trust” in Fairfax content from the PC to mobile devices.
The most popular Fairfax news content is breaking news, then ‘top news’ – the most read items – followed by sport, she noted.
But will mobile media consumption eat into Fairfax’s online audience? Not for now, she reckoned.
“Are we bringing in new users? Or are existing users migrating from PC to mobile? I think the two media complement each other,” she said.
“Mobile use peaks at 7am; people check their phones when they get out of bed. They then switch to PCs at 9am, when they get to work. Then to tablet computers after work,” she said.
However, within three years mobile media consumption will probably start to cannibalise PC use, she added, quoting figures that by 2014, 35% of internet access will be via smart phones or tablets.
So what are the implications for advertisers? Click-through rates are higher on mobile devices than on PCs, she noted, and new ad formats – such as sushi train – are emerging that are increasingly effective at engaging mobile device users.
“We have learned a lot from desktop computer use that is transferable. Brand advertising works well on a PC, which has become more of a lean-back medium. ‘How to’ videos tend to work better on a tablet or a smart phone,” she said.
“Advertisers need to work more closely with publishers to understand how people are using mobile devices,” she added.
Tim, is this a press release dressed up as an article, or is this actually Mumbrella’s point of view?
“Following a spectacular rise in the consumption of Fairfax news content on mobile devices, the company’s digital head has predicted that 2011 really will be the year of the mobile.”
Bollocks.
It’s not ‘the year of mobile’. It never has been, just like it was never ‘the year of the internet’. For many people, the mobile web is now truly ubiquitous. For many others, it’s still an unknown. To say that across the entire market there will be a sudden surge to mobile is absolutely ridiculous.
The fact that Fairfax think it’s ‘the year of mobile’ says far more about them then it does about the Australian market.
“Huxley attributed this growth to the rapid uptake of smart phones and tablet computers and the “transferability of trust” in Fairfax content from the PC to mobile devices.”
Really?
The uptake of mobile content consumption in Australia is because people trust Fairfax content?
It’s got nothing to do with huge increases in mobile processor power, touchscreen devices, improved UX, and the millions of iOS and Android apps available?
What concerns me most about this article is Fairfax’s mobile expert demonstrating such an archaic view of why and how mobile growth is happening.
Click through rates? Sushi trains? Ad formats? Really Fairfax?
Advertisers shouldn’t “work more closely with publishers to understand how people are using mobile devices” if this is their level of understanding of the market.
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“Now, I know for the past few years we’ve said this is the year of mobile … and you know, it sort of hasn’t really happened. Well, this year IS the year of mobile. Totally! And if it isn’t, well, 2012 will be rebadged “the year of mobile”.”
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Hi Nic, thanks for your comment. In the paragraph:
“Huxley attributed this growth to the rapid uptake of smart phones and tablet computers and the “transferability of trust” in Fairfax content from the PC to mobile devices.”
I was referring to Fairfax’s growth (762%, according to Nielsen). Not the growth of the market overall. Apologies if that is unclear. Fairfax is a fairly big operator in the mobile news space, so is not a bad indicator of how things could well pan out. But I hope the piece does not imply that because Fairfax believes that this year could be a big one for mobile, it will certainly be so.
I’d be interested to hear where you think the most interesting innovations in mobile media and advertising are happening now, and what we can learn from it.
When is that flipboard like iPad app. for SMH & The Age released?
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Nick, sure this is based on a press release. But, so what, this is an advertising & media industry website not the NY Times!
Personally I’m pleased to see these stats. They are hugely relevant to me as I try to convince a publisher at another media group that he should invest in mobile media this year. So thanks Tim for punblishing the item.
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@Nic – SPOT ON MATE! Fairfax will lose the mobile battle due to their old-fashioned business models/way of thinking and greed (just like the rest of the ‘old media’ dinosaurs)
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I agree with Nic. There is no Year of the Mobile. It’s a decade plus long transformation that we happen to be in the early stages of. The use of smartphones and mobile usage outside of talking and texting is still non existent for most. While usage is increasing (12% of all searches on Google AU are now done from a mobile) there is still a huge gap of knowledge, attitude and habits that need to change before mobile truly arrives.
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I have to agree – Fairfax are kidding themselves…again.
This is my favourite bit: ‘Brand advertising works well on a PC, which has become more of a lean-back medium. ‘How to’ videos tend to work better on a tablet or a smart phone,” she said’
That is complete tosh – how is the PC a ‘lean-back medium’, unless it’s simply to defend the very low CTRs on Fairfax campaigns? And I”m sorry, but how many of us are sitting in front of our iPads watching ‘how-to videos’ anyone, Bueller?
Oh dear….
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It certainly helps the figures if you find Mobile SMH on Google news on a android phone due to the fact once you click on a story you cannot move out of Mobile SMH back to Google.
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