A Love Affair: Consumers and Their Cell Phones
Consumers love their cell phones—sometimes more than their own lovers.
BBDO Europe and its direct-marketing network, Proximity, surveyed 3,000 cell phone owners (ages 15-35) in 15 countries. They found that 53% of respondents have used their cell phones to respond to a brand promotion (barely topping the 52% that have used their phones to flirt). Three-quarters (78%) leave their phones on and in reach 16-plus hours a day; 80% sleep with their phones on. And 14% admit they’ve answered their cell phones while having sex. (That stat gets closer to 20% in some countries.)
Fully 96% screen their calls; 63% wouldn’t lend their phone to a friend for the day; and 38% say they’d go back home for a forgotten phone before they’d go back for a forgotten wallet. Nearly half (45%) think a phone says as much about a person as his car.
“Mobile phones offer a unique new opportunity for brands to engage with their consumers on a more personal, intense level,” said Valerie Accary, managing director Multinational Clients for BBDO Europe, in a statement. “A more balanced relationship based on permission, respect, on-going dialogue, valuable creative content and entertainment will result in consumers who are more likely to behave as advocates for their brands.”
BBDO and Proximity plan to launch a “digital lab” to collect more information on consumers’ attitudes towards their cell phones and case studies on successful campaigns.
