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Two people in a small kiosk at a local supermart want you to try out the new breakfast cereal being launched by a popular food maker. There would be many such stalls and people distributing samples across the country, and at some point, across many countries around the globe. We have all been through such an encounter, probably even till very recently. But can we ever imagine the same thing happening over the mobile phone? Yes, we can.

In early this January, Kraft Foods tied up with YOC to create a mobile campaign to promote the launch of its new instant coffee products, Jacobs 3in1 and Jacobs 2in1, in the USA. The aim was to minimize sampling wastage and associated costs, and achieve accuracy in the research. The campaign is a mix of traditional media with an intention to conveniently provide consumers a way of ordering samples of the coffee via mobile. The campaign was launched across print, TV and mobile. The results: 500,000 samples were placed directly among the target group and more than 80,000 users registered their details for permission-based marketing in the future. And thats just the beginning of the success of the campaign.

Mobile marketing is here to stay.
At home, there is a strong and definite move toward mobile marketing. From the use of technology, including the ubiquitous cell phone, to reach out to vote-banks by political parties, campaigning for social causes, or even the annual sale notifications by popular brands that fill our inboxesthe change is visible and affecting us.

Hard to Ignore
Traditional forms of advertising continue to be where clients and advertisers put maximum money. But the mobile is a powerful communications device with respect to mobility, reach, and immediacy, and this is becoming hard to ignore. The numbers also say that the scope is immense: with 2.4 bn mobile phones sold around the world last year and 350 bn text messages exchanged across the world mobile networks every month, promotion and branding through mobile to soon become mainstream is topping future predictions.

And with Internet reaching out to mobile handsets and networks, the impact becomes manifold. PC Internet led the way to an interactive and instant medium. The mobile Internet is all that along with instant gratification. Here lies its strength and business proposition for advertisers.

Mobile marketing is very location-based and targeting is simpler. Revenue sharing will happen because it is not an open ecosystem, but it may change with the Internet. The faster the Internet penetration the sooner the revenue sharing equation will change, says Vinay Goel, head of products, Google India.

It was not until now that we have started recommending the mobile as a medium of communication, simply because people didnt know how to, says Nihar Das, regional managing partner, Mediacom.

A study by eMarketer in 2008 shows a positive growth in global mobile advertising revenue from $4,586 mn in 2008 to $7,375 mn in 2009, with a forecast growth of up to $19,149 mn in 2012. Mobile search advertising, mobile display advertising and mobile message advertising would be the three main pillars driving industry growth.

Mobile Marketing is the most upcoming medium for advertisers and marketers globally. The current technology is fully capable of adjusting to the connection speeds and type on connectivity. The advertising engine adapts to basic GPRS, Edge, 3G or 4G and displays advertisements accordingly. Most handsets in India currently support basic mobile browsing and thus a large number of traffic originates from India, says Sanjay G, founder, mobiSolv.

The Nike campaign hoarding at Times Square, New York City

Having 300 mn mobile subscribers in India brings the opportunity for advertisers to go where nothing else canthe rural belt. We have seen more downloads happening from small towns and rural areas than in metros because in the metros people are exposed to multiple medium. For promotion campaigns in rural parts of the country, we have even used unicode which has had a great impact, says Saurabh Vartikar, vice president, Mauj.

Integration is Key
Choosing mobile as a medium of advertising and marketing is mainly to overcome the disconnect that lies in traditional advertising methods. So as SMSes or even WAP portal ads result in providing anytime, anywhere information to customers, Internet is taking that to the next level and enabling them to take action with that information immediately. The growth of Web usage on the mobile, and especially smartphones, has greatly given a fillip to mobile marketing, and helped it come out of its pull-based SMS advertising image to a certain extent.

Companies with a physical presence in the form of stores, catalogs, websites, and even those related directly to people will be able to leverage mobile marketing to extend their presence. With the coming of 3G, marketing through location based servicespromotions and information based on the location of the customerswill have a direct impact on the point of sales. To know about discounts being offered by restaurants in the area that you are in would be of more relevance than getting generic SMSes about sales and discount at restaurants on the other side of the city!

Advertisers have seen higher results through mobile advertising on WAP portals than on the Internet. Explaining this, Asif Atif, CTO, Mobile Worx says, The results through mobile marketing have been modest, though not a paradigm shift. Click through rate on the mobile is much better than on the Internet. Roughly, Internet has a click through rate of below 1% while mobile has somewhere between 1-7%. He believes that thanks to the mobile and new and innovative applications, consumers can have access to services for free because someone else is paying for it (advertisers).

Prevailing Trends
A Nike hoarding on Times Square, New York City called people to SMS ideas of shoes, that would then be customized, click and put-up at that very spot. The designs selected were given free to the creator. The idea was compelling, easy, and eye-catching, and all enabled by an SMS short-code and human creativity. Needless to say, the mobile promotional activity was a sweeping success.

Major companies are taking up mobile marketing and coming closer to the households. Retail giants, banks, insurance agencies, and even medicos are using the mobile to club services with marketing. When customers SMS a balance query to their banks, it is likely that the information is provided along with new schemes. A GPRS connection will further enhance the experience and effect.

Mobile integrated events as a mobile marketing tool, where users write in comments or send ideas about products, design or people are fast becoming popular. Mobiles for election campaigns have also become popular. An NGO recently used the mobile SMS mode to invite Mumbaikars to form a human chain to show solidarity against the Mumbai terror attacks. Here the interpersonal, intimate, and interactive traits of the mobile are being used to the advertisers and campaigners advantage.

Nihar Das of Mediacom says that the growth of mobile marketing has just begun for countries like India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. But since the PC Internet penetration is so low in these countries, the only means to reach the rural areas would be through mobile phones that now commonly come with GPRS enabled in them.

Sunrise advertisers like insurance will drive the mobile marketing growth, says Das. Traditional advertisers like FMGC will like to incorporate mobile into cross-media marketing mix in order to differentiate themselves from competition.

Maujs Vartikar says that in the future a lot depends of 3G. We are really waiting for 3G. While initially there wont be much activity, but gradually, mobile commerce, mobile coupons and location based services are going to be the next big things in mobile marketing.

Not there Yet, and Why
Mobile marketing is however fairly a newcomer in the mobile ecosystem driven by its advantageous characteristics of high reach and personalization, yet fumbling when it comes to how best to leverage those characteristics.

Though there is a shift toward mobile Internet-based marketing, the focus remains on SMSes. Whether messages sent proactively to inform loyal/existing customers on schemes that might benefit thempush-based, or messages that are sent randomlypull-based, junk SMSes are as common. Though both push and pull-based ads are found while navigating WAP portals as well, the user perception differs greatly. For the success of mobile marketing, and to both gain and retain user confidence, assuring them of their privacy should be top-of-mind. Also, marketing that will improve their lifestyle and productivity will be a success.

Unethical and un-solicited SMS sending has been providing a bad reputation for the marketers, but mobile Internet browsing is totally user dependent with no invasion of privacy. It works on the pull mode and displays advertisements only when the users are browsing similar to Internet browsing. This is another reason, mobile Internet-based advertising is more acceptable to advertisers and marketers, says Sanjay of mobiSolv.

It is predicted that even as mobile Internet grows, mobile text messaging will still play an important role in 2009, especially for a country like India where 3G is yet to make a difference.

According to Vartikar, Mobile is a tactical media; it is supportive. So branding is difficult. But because it is intimate and impulsive, it is very effective for promotional activities. As of now, majority of brand names jumping into the mobile marketing space are using SMS as the first and major step toward mobile marketing.

For Das, effectiveness of mobile marketing is not in campaigns. Mobile advertising will work best only when there is a chance for it to convert into transactions. It is effective once it can be converted into a purchase.

Asif Ali, CTO, Mobile Worx says that the next three years are big for the mobile marketing space. Mobile has been seen as an additional or supportive medium, but in the three years companies would allot 20-25% of their advertising to the mobile, predicts Ali.

As with all marketing tools and media, a profitable proposition is the one that takes into account user privacy and relevance. User consent can work in favor of the service provider and advertiser as they can bring them personalized, timely and relevant information by means of ads and services togethera reason that would eventually lead to mobile marketing and information working hand-in-hand.

Shikha Das
shikhad@cybermedia.co.in

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