Israel’s Cellcom Tries Out Advertising Driven Model
Cellcom, Israel’s largest mobile phone operator with 3.1 million subscribers at the end of June, has launched a new advertising model in Israel which allows its subscribers to accumulate free air time in exchange for watching commercials. Based on a pay per view model, Cellcom expects advertising turnover to reach 15 million shekels ($4.2 million) in the first year, with about half of that being passed on to subscribers in free air time.
Customers could get up to 45 minutes per month of free air time for watching the commercials. At the end, viewers will have to answer one or two advertiser questions to prove they paid attention. The model is similar to the one implemented by Virgin Mobile in 2006 in the United States called Sugar Mama.
Major advertisers such as Coca-Cola, Nokia and Sony have already signed up.
The advertising market in Israel reached $900 million in 2007, with Internet advertising accounting for $90 million of that, up from $69 million in 2006. [Via]
I am just surprised that ore telecom operators are not following suit.
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