Bank of America is promoting its iPhone offering by running mobile banners within the Fox Sports iPhone application.

Consumers that click on the ad are routed to a landing page where they can either download the free Bank of America application or learn more about mobile banking. Consumers also have the option to sign into their Bank of America online account via a link.

?Today the Fox Sports iPhone application has banner ads and in-screen video sponsorships, which are not preroll ads but instead inset advertising within the video itself,? said Andrew Hossom, vice president of marketing for Fox Sports Interactive, New York. 

?Some brands advertising within the app are Autozone, Bank of America, Land Rover and Jaguar,? he said. ?This is evidence that premium brands are extending into the mobile space.?

However, even though the number of mobile applications continues to grow rapidly and more people are consuming content via their phone, the market is still quite nascent.

Most advertisers have taken a wait-and-see attitude, hoping that compelling standards emerge, much like the IAB standards for display ads online.

Brands seeking to monetize their mobile application must understand the mobile channel and their target audience in order to choose the right monetization strategy.

The Fox Sports application features video content and supports banner ads that enable a variety of actions such as pure click, expanding banners, click to call, click to WAP, click to application store and click to play video.

The Bank of America banner is a pure click ad. Consumers that click are taken to a WAP site where they can do a variety of actions and interact with the Bank of America brand by downloading the application, signing into their account or learning more.

The Learn More section of the WAP site carries the tagline ?The strength of your bank, always at hand.?

This landing page is a detailed overview of the application and its features such as the ability to view balances, pay bills, transfer funds, find banking centers and find ATMs.

The page also goes into detail describing the security of the Bank of America iPhone application. It claims that advanced encryption technology makes mobile banking via the application safe.

Bank of America is big on mobile banking.

In fact, the company introduced a financial awareness campaign designed to educate students to take control of their finances and discover mobile banking in this upcoming academic year.

The "Morris on Campus, Life According to an Upperclassman" campaign provides college students with tips on how to navigate campus life, including money matters, through Webisodes, additional online content and offline communication pieces (see story).

In June 2008, Bank of America advertised on Talkster's free international and long-distance Free World Dialing ad-supported calling service (see story).

In June of last year Bank of America announced that it crossed the milestone of 1 million unique active mobile banking customers in a year since it allowed them to bank on the go (see story).

The Bank of America application is the latest initiative that is part of the company?s ongoing mobile strategy.

It is only natural that Bank of America is targeting iPhone users that have downloaded the Fox Sports application, since they are likely to download other applications as well.

Original content within an iPhone application is important for both the brand and its advertisers because this is what the deciding factor is for consumers.

The application?s originality will influence whether a consumer will download the application and whether he or she will choose to keep it on their phone.

The Fox Sports application, created by UIEvolution, features made-for-mobile content, which will be a benefit to consumers, brand advertisers and Fox Sports.

?Video content within the Fox Sports application is produced specifically for the platform and for the mobile audience,? said Travis Beaven, vice president of consumer products for UIEvolution, New York. ?It features good original content.?

Dan Butcher contributed reporting for this story.