China seems to be the ultimate market to leverage on mobile advertising. The two main reasons behind this trend are, firstly, the striking – and rapidly increasing – number of mobile phones present in the country and, secondly, the Chinese openness to this new type of advertising.

Regarding the first trend, China will soon overtake the US for mobile phone revenues and become the world top mobile phone market – according to the Boston-based research firm Strategy Analytics. Only this year, mobile phone revenues will increase an impressive 53% in China, while the US will see a growth of only 4%. A separate report from International Data Corporation (IDC) reconfirms this trend by forecasting that China will account for one-third of smartphone global shipments by 2018. This rapid growth is being driven by two major factors; first, the country´s rapid adoption of 3G and 4G smartphones; and second, the ability of major brands to expand their distribution channels and product ranges to adapt to the strong demand.

The potential for mobile advertising is also fostered by a second factor, the Chinese positivity towards mobile advertising. A study from PwC shows that Chinese consumers are far more open to mobile marketing than their global peers. The research highlights that they are more willing to be targeted with customized advertising and more eager to trade their personal data online in exchange for free apps, coupons, deals, or other items of value. Compared to the US and UK, their willingness to share data is almost double (58% in China, vs. 30% in the US and 28% in the UK).

Mobile and social media utilization seems to be generally more diffused among Chinese consumers. As displayed in the chart below, Chinese users are far ahead of global peers in terms of mobile usage and digital interaction.

On top of that, they also download more apps than other countries, signaling a core marketing channel to target customers.

Some companies are already taking advantage of this new potential channel. Coca-Cola, for example, has just launched a new advertising campaign which leverages this trend. It has included QR codes on each coke bottle, allowing drinkers to scan them and view a musical clip which is meant to be shared through WeChat. This campaign seems to perfectly leverage this new trend, and there are no doubts followers will come.