Tech sector is mostly mobile

Warc, 19 August 2014

LONDON: Despite the onward advance of mobile, a significant minority of the UK's leading tech and telecoms brands have yet to develop a mobile-optimised website, according to new research.

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK, a trade association for digital advertising, carried out a an audit in July 2014 across the top 50 technology and telecom brands spending the most on advertising in the UK in order to gauge their uptake across the mobile channel.

Among the KPIs checked were whether the brand had a mobile friendly site (including separate mobile site and responsive web design), a tablet-specific site, if they had optimised their search for mobile, and whether they had an app.

It found that, while 76% of those surveyed had a mobile-optimised site, 6% had no mobile presence whatsoever.

The audit further revealed that 62% of the technology and telecom brands had a mobile site and an app. Fully 80% of the brands had an app, with brands favouring developing for the Google Play store over the Apple App Store, with 72% citing the Google Play mobile app and 58% the App Store.

Some 38% of the brands were optimising their paid search for mobile, with 47% of those optimising their search including a click to call in the ad creative.

The research also showed that some brands performed well across all of the mobile KPIs. For example, O2, Sky, EE, Three, ADT and HP all had a mobile friendly site, and a mobile and tablet app.

"The IAB's mantra this year is to make mobile mandatory," declared Alex Kozloff, IAB UK's Head of Mobile, as he explained the audit formed part of a series of sector-specific audits – which so far include mobile finance, FMCG, travel and retail – aimed at "encouraging brands to get to grips with mobile".

"It's no longer OK to ignore mobile," he said. "If you're looking at engaging, selling or even driving awareness for your brand amongst your consumers, then you need to be embracing this medium."

Data sourced from IAB (UK); additional content by Warc staff