The BVDW’s (MMA Germany) whitepaper on Location Based Advertising is evidence of the prominent rise of LBA in Germany. Whilst Germany may still lag behind the most developed mobile markets such as the U.S and U.K, advertisers (big brands in particular) are increasingly identifying the benefits associated with LBA. Location is at the core of successful campaigns, allowing advertisers to effectively target and reach their desired audiences, in the right context.

“Location, perhaps the most accurate indication of intent, is top of the list. But it’s also undergoing massive change as marketers recognize that longitude and latitude are just part of the picture” says mobile analyst Peggy Anne Salz in a recent post on local context for audience targeting.

LBA, once associated solely with driving foot traffic for local commerce is now leveraged by some of the world’s largest brands. McDonald’s, Ben&Jerry’s and Vodafone are just some of the big names to have launched LBA campaigns in Germany recently, yielding excellent results. The BVDW’s whitepaper covers these case studies and is evidence of advertisers in Germany experiencing a shift in mind-set. A twilight zone exists somewhere between the client side and data providers and platforms. It’s in this twilight zone that topics such as Mobile, LBA and Programmatic are still daunting and part of the unknown. That gap is slowly closing, bringing everyone up to the same speed. McDonald’s, Ben&Jerry’s & Vodafone are the perfect leading examples of educated, innovative brands offering valuable content on mobile, obtaining minimum wasted impressions with LBA.

Germany is among one of the top 5 advertising markets worldwide, with mobile set to account for 73% of digital ad spend in 2018. LBA bridges the gap between the digital world and consumers’ offline behaviour and is a main driver for that development.

A recent IAB European agency snapshot study revealed EU (Germany, UK, France, Italy & Spain) agencies had an above average understanding of mobile advertising with 63% of respondents feeling location based advertising was the most exciting mobile opportunity. BIA/Kelsey’s Annual U.S Local Media Forecast reveals that locally targeted mobile ads will represent more than half of all overall U.S mobile ad spend by 2018.

To read the full BVDW Location Based Advertising whitepaper (German) complete with case studies, click here.