The study "Insight into mobile spam" is based on more than 1600 interviews with both consumers and operators in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, the US, Singapore, China and Saudi Arabia.

Torsten Brodt, researcher at the University of St Gallen and lead author, says the aim of the study was to find out if mobile spam was becoming a problem for subscribers and operators and, if so, what are the implications.

"We defined mobile spam as any kind of marketing or promotional message that has not been requested by the subscriber," Brodt says. "And in that sense, the study clearly shows that consumers are annoyed by it and that operators start to implement solutions to avoid spam.

"Compared to Europe, people in Asia receive more mobile spam but are not so concerned about it, which is probably because they are getting used to it. It is not unlikely that commercial messages will be increasingly more accepted in Europe when people get more accustomed to it. But if that happens, there is also a risk of losing the mobile channel's power as a marketing tool. If people do not care, the message does not get across; you don't read it, you just ignore it and delete it."

Different pay models also have an impact on how mobile marketing messages are perceived. In the US, for example, consumers pay for incoming traffic, which can be annoying if they receive messages they do not want.

Brodt says operators are fairly well aware that mobile spam exists and that it is an issue for consumers. But, for the main part, operators are still only just starting to investigate what tools and technologies can be implemented to avoid it. Only 30 percent of operators, many leading their markets, said they have already invested in some kind of filtering solution.

On the other hand, operators are interested in opening up their networks to mobile marketing and gaining more acceptance and interest for it among customers. The majority of mobile marketing messages today are sent by operators directly, or on behalf of third-party providers. A small proportion of the message are sent without any control by the operator.

"You could say that operators are looking at minimizing that part and optimizing the part they have control over," Brodt says. "The study clearly shows that operators want to invest in mobile marketing service offerings. Take for example DoCoMo, which has a business service unit that conceptualizes mobile marketing services for third-party providers," Brodt says.

Operators that are reactive today usually offer support to consumers through mobile spam websites that include information on how to avoid mobile spam, phone protection and how to report unwanted spam. Many operators also say they would cancel roaming agreements if they detect a source which is sending mobile spam.

"I think we will see a similar scenario to that of internet e-mail providers that have implemented solutions to reduce the level of spam on their platforms. T-Online, for example, which is one of the biggest e-mail providers in Germany, uses its spam filter as a marketing message. This is also what the operators might want to do."

Establishing the credibility of the sender is important for successful mobile marketing. As soon as people get the feeling a message is about something obscure, they delete it, Brodt says. "It must be very clear who is sending the message and big brand names, of course, have an advantage here. One problem is that the space is limited, so you have to be very clear and consistent about what you are offering."

Building concepts or integrated campaigns are often the most successful ways to market on the mobile. Brodt mentions a marketing campaign for BMW's new Series One car, which had its base on the internet and used various complementary channels, such as print advertising, TV and the mobile channel.

Brodt believes that with the right business model, the mobile channel has many advantages compared to other marketing channels.

"It is more interactive, people can give an instant reply; it is more personal, because you know who is receiving the message, which enables group segmentation. The awareness is high because people tend to look at messages straight away, and it is anywhere, anytime. Prime time is not between 8pm and 10pm in front of the TV any more.

"If operators learn how to use these strengths, the mobile marketing concept has a huge potential. We have only seen the beginning of this and the next step is multimedia messaging, which makes it possible to convey bigger, more emotional messages."

Hendrik Bergstén