Mobile Video Still Nascent

At least, that’s according to Mogreet, a mobile marketing firm specializing in rich media which claims to deliver ad messages to over 290 million mobile subscribers in the U.S. For example, per Mogreet’s Q1 2011 mobile marketing analytics report, the top 10 mobile handsets sold in the U.S. account for just 29 percent of mobile video commercial messages viewed, implying that mobile video usage is not solely the domain of smartphones.

In fact, Mogreet’s analysis found that Apple’s iPhone delivered just 5.4 percent of mobile video views in Q1, despite its users reputation for being heavy mobile Web and video consumers. And when it comes to wireless carriers, Verizon dominated in Q1, delivering 44 percent of marketing-related mobile video views, according to Mogreet, despite not being available on the iPhone until recently (AT&T accounted for nearly 35 percent of mobile views).

Among the rest of the top five handsets generating mobile video views, three were manufactured by LG, including the LG enV, with the other being the Samsung Intensity. The Droid, one of the iPhone’s top smartphone competitors did not crack the top five.

This data implies that marketers may be better off targeting a broader mobile audience with tactics that go beyond video ads or even applications, said Mogreet CEO James Citron. In other words, video isn’t limited to smartphones. “Mobile Web and applications are great tools for consumer engagement, yet lack the broad reach that MMS provides. With MMS, brand marketers can deliver rich media to more than 93 percent of U.S. mobile consumers regardless of if they have a smartphone or a feature phone.”