Sports brands such as adidas and Puma invested in mobile marketing during the World Cup and helped increase global mobile advertising.

According to BuzzCity?s second-quarter report, global mobile advertising grew by 61 percent and sports brands took advantage of the World Cup to promote their soccer-related content. In addition, Google, Yahoo and MSN saw an increase in the mobile advertising campaigns.

?Although it might not be completely surprising, we have seen significant findings in sport-related brands investing in mobile marketing,? said KF Lai, CEO of BuzzCity, Singapore. ?There has been a huge amount of interest from sports brands such as Adidas and Puma looking to capitalize on the World Cup. 

?The interesting piece is how quickly companies have been able to implement a mobile strategy that leverages the buzz,? he said. ?The lack of growth in Europe was again surprising but this market is particularly focused on building applications, which is perhaps why the growth was not as fierce as in other markets.?

BuzzCity is a mobile media company that offers brand owners and agencies access to a global advertising network on the mobile Internet.

Mobile data
The data was gathered over a three-month period from April to June.

Forty-four markets delivered monthly traffic exceeding 10 million impressions per month ? an increase from 32 markets in the first quarter.

Additionally, there was an increased advertiser interest from travel providers such as Malaysia Airlines.

?The significant global growth has to be the key finding in this quarter?s ad index results,? Mr. Lai said. ?We have seen growth compared to last quarter, with impressions up by 61 percent and 44 markets have delivered monthly traffic exceeding 10 million impressions.

?Whilst the world?s economy is still in a state of uncertainty, the global mobile market is going from strength to strength,? he said. ?Off-portal mobile has seen substantial growth this quarter too, perhaps because consumers prefer being directly contacted with more relevant content.?

BuzzCity also experienced a 25 percent increase in the number of publishers joining its network.

The top 20 most active countries included Indonesia, India, United States, South Africa, Vietnam, Kenya, Canada, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Brunei.

?As it is clear that there is a definite thirst for content, we would suggest marketers focus on their customers when developing their mobile strategy,? Mr. Lai said. ?Tailoring the content so it is relevant to their consumers is essential.

?Something that has been very successful at BuzzCity is developing numerous platforms spanning different areas of interest,? he said. ?We would urge marketers to consider bringing this onboard ? the potential to increase your ROI if you are in line with your customers is huge. Marketers should spend time listening to their customers.?
 
The company expects to be able to deliver to even more mobile advertisers.

?The growth in the industry does not look to be slowing down,? Mr. Lai said. ?We also expect more brand advertisers to come on board and invest in their mobile strategies beyond the app.

?We could see more brands using mobile as their primary marketing strategy," he said. "Furthermore, we expect more companies to consider mobile as their primary channel in the emerging markets.? 

Final take
Rimma Kats, editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer, New York.