Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Search
RSS | Archive
Web voicendata.com
Home > Service Provider > Mobile Marketing : Donning a New Hat
SERVICE PROVIDER
Mobile Marketing : Donning a New Hat
The number of mobile subscribers is way exceeding that of Internet users. This is turning
the third screen into a personalized marketing device
Jatinder Singh
Current Issue
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Print Comment Email Digg Del.icio.us Reddit
Business has only two functions-marketing and innovation-the famous management guru, Click here to book your
Peter Drucker once said. And if we analyze the ambit of mobile marketing, it seems to copy now
encompass both these objectives.
In the bleak economic scenario where marketers are battling to get people to open their
wallets, utilizing digital channels to reach consumers, in an innovative manner is gaining
huge significance.
Currently, India boasts of over 370 mn mobile users (which is expected to double in the Your Opinion Matters
next three years). Approximately 30 mn of these users access mobile Internet-the largest
in Asia. • Does cloud
computing cast a
cloud on the future of
Considering this, the country offers huge potential to marketers to reach their audiences in
IT professionals?
a direct and personalized way.
• Is your Accounts
Today, the number of mobile subscribers has surpassed that of Internet users. This is fast Payable Solution
turning the mobile device into a vital marketing medium. Particularly significant for working for you?
operators in India as ARPU is relatively low and they are banking upon alternative Think Again…
channels to increase ARPU in rural and semi-urban markets.
“The concept of mobile marketing holds the promise of
providing an additional revenue stream to operators who CIOL Services
are looking for ways to deal with continuously declining IT News | IT Jobs |
ARPUs,” says Sunil Rajshekhar, president & COO, Times IT Outsourcing | IT
Internet. Shopping
“Although cellular numbers are increasing, ARPU is
declining as voice rates continue to fall. Mobile operators
are looking at VAS to augment their ARPUs,” adds
Vishwadeep Bajaj, co-founder and CEO, ValueFirst.
Watch this Space
In February 2001, when London staged the world's first conference to discuss mobile
advertising, not all were convinced about its prospects. However, as cellular subscribers
started to outnumber TV sets and desktop/laptop population, operators and advertisers
realized significant buoyancy in its effectiveness to promote their products and services.
“With almost every third person in India being mobile now, mobile marketing becomes
the most effective channel to reach the end user,” says Madhusudan Gupta, senior
research analyst, Gartner.
In a recent survey carried out by Telenity, over 51%
consumers were willing to receive push advertising of
preferred categories. The survey was done in eleven key
markets which also revealed that majority of consumers
liked mobile marketing if it enabled them to keep service
costs down. “When it comes to TV or radio, no one is sure
about the end consumer, however in mobile, we can
identify our target consumers and can get the best juice
out of the campaign,” says Zubin Dubash, AVP, VAS,
TTSL.
The Problem
So far, mobile marketing in India has not been able to pick up as compared to the western
world. The approximate budget allocation for this medium as of now is 2-3% of the total
advertising budget in India.
“The main obstacle is that this is a very new media channel. And hence the advertising
ecosystem is not fully conversant about the technicality and functionality of this channel,”
says Debasis Chatterji, CEO, Netxcell.
However, with easy accessible services and Internet on cell phones, it is witnessing a
growth rate of over 200% per annum and is poised to reach greater heights in the years to
come.
“Mobile marketing is a nascent but rapidly growing industry in India. In the last one year
we have seen the market more than double, given the efforts of all key components of the
mobile media ecosystem,” says Anuj Kumar, executive director (South Asia), Affle.
Aakash Moondhra, head, telecom and retail verticals, Baring Private Equity Partners says,
“At present the market is small, somewhere between Rs 50-100 crore. However, as the
benefit per rupee spent is on the higher side in this space, the medium holds a great
potential.”
The concept has already grabbed enough eyeballs in matured markets. For instance, in
Spain 76% of mobile phone owners receive ads; in France over 62%; and in Japan 54%.
More importantly, the estimate suggests that as the concept of mobile marketing matures
so does the user involvement. In Japan, nearly 45% of mobile phone owners are believed
to click on ads they receive on their phones today.
In the US, brands hold mobile property which is urbanized along with data-rich network
and hence, has more prospects for advertisers. However, in the UK, revenue generation is
comparatively low because of lingual challenges.
Says Anil Sardana, MD, Tata Teleservices, “In the coming days, targeted advertisement
will emerge as a big ticket application. For example, the Big Bazaars of India want to
announce a sale where the customer will gets 50% discount if he/she gets to the store
For Voice&Data Print Subscription
[ Magazine Subscription ] [ Contact Info ] [ Media Kit ]
Other CyberMedia web sites
[Dataquest] [PCQuest] [CIOL] [Living Digital]
[IDC India] [DQ Channels] [The DQweek]
[Cyber Astro] [CyberMedia India] [Global Services]
[BioSpectrum] [BioSpectrum Asia] [DARE] [Technology Review]
Copyright © CMIL. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.
Usage of this web site is subject to terms and conditions.
Broken links? Problems with site? Send email to webmaster@ciol.com
