Sign in to your SiliconIndia account
Email:       Password:  
Don't have SiliconIndia account? Sign up     Forgot your password? Reset

Mobile marketing set to explode in India

Tuesday, 26 August 2008, 04:16 Hrs
New Delhi: With a 300-million mobile subscriber base and 100 million additions a year, India is set to see a mobile marketing explosion, experts say.

"The mobile phone will revolutionise business in India," M.V. Kamath, managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank, India's largest private lender, told IANS.
Is social media more addictive than cigarettes?
YES
NO

ICICI Bank has already begun to drive growth in a big way through the mobile route.

Kamath, however, was referring not only to the direct reach that cell phones provide but also to how they can help businesses cut costs and hike efficiency.

Even then, marketers, brand managers and advertising professionals have begun to realize the unique marketing opportunity that the almost ubiquitous mobile phone offers.

"Mobile is the future," says ad guru Alique Padamsee.

Advertising agency Draft FCB-Ulka's executive director Arvind Wable agrees.

Both believe the mobile phone holds the key to tapping India's huge rural and semi-urban markets.

"Mobile advertising in India can be bigger than Internet advertising in the next three-four years," says Rajesh Jain, managing director of Mumbai-based Netcore Solutions, a mobile marketing pioneer in India.

"As such, everyone benefits. The key lies in publishers creating 'media on mobile' - based on SMS and permission from the subscribers," says Jain.

"But it is just starting. Mobile ad spend is currently estimated to be just about 250-300 million," says Jain.

Mobile marketing is not telemarketing - the kind of calls that disturb people.
Rather, it is the process of sending spam-free, personalised, permission-based marketing messages to receptive consumers through their mobile phones.

The key words here are spam-free, personalized and permission-based. Permission- based advertising is called opt-in advertising in the marketers' lingo.

"It is the future," Jain asserts.

"We term it 'invertising' - invited advertising. We think the blue ocean lies in enabling brands and businesses to build relationships with consumers on the mobile."

Adds Wable: "To make it even more catchy, consumers can be given incentives such as free talk time if they opt for ads."

Typically mobile marketing can be either pull-type where a user requests information from a service provider or advertiser.

Or it can be push-based where marketing communication is sent through short messaging service (SMS) or alerts.

For this the advertiser has to have the consumer's permission.

Netcore does it through its brand MyToday, which offers a bouquet of mobile pone services such as news, stock markets, cricket and health, among several others.

The user has to opt for this free service and he or she gets headlines with a text ad at the bottom of the screen.

Since its launch in 2006, MyToday has hooked more than four million subscribers. At a rate of 300,000 monthly additions, it will hit 10 million in a year, says Abhijit Saxena, Netcore's chief executive officer.

"Operator portal and SMS Advertising are just starting to happen. MyToday has seen over 100 brands use the platform, with over 30 percent of them repeating campaigns," says Jain.

"The overall advertising opportunity is either text-based such as SMS or voice based such as branded caller tune or ring back tunes with ads," says Ajay Gupte, chief of Bangalore-based OnMobile Global Ltd.

Unlike Netcore, which concentrates only on news based opt-in advertising, OnMobile offers an entire gamut of services across all mobile technologies.

The company claims to have a market reach of 350 million and a total of 206 million unique users.

The Hyderabad-based mobile advertising company Way2SMS claims that it currently reaches more than 6.5 million unique users every month.
Source: IANS
1   2  Next>
   
Write your comment now     |     Submit your news/press release


Your Name    Email: 
Type the characters you see in the picture

  Cancel
Let our editorial department know about any news about your company, your organization, or yourself, or any press release that you have. If we find it suitable for our audience, we will contact you and make a news. Please also share any links for the news.

Chr left
Your name     Email 
Type the characters you see in the picture

Beautiful and dress selection, please go to Dresses
Plan on visiting the Lotus Temple? Get Great Deals on Delhi Hotels !
Buy India Wholesale Products on DHgate.com
SPOTLIGHT



News:           Technology   |   Enterprise IT   |   Tech Products   |   Startups   |   Finance   |   Business   |   Career   |   Magazine  |   Dailydose   |   News archive   |  
RSS
Network:       Network   |   Profile   |   Messages   |   Scrapbook   |   Find   |   Blogs   |   Communities   |   Events   |   Q&A   |   CXO Insights  
Career:        Jobs   |   Companies     |   Mentorship   |   Videos   |   Career blogs   |   Training institutions  |   Freshers
Online courses:   Web developer   |   Java developer   |   CCNA training   |   SEO   |   SAS   |   SQL server 2005   |   J2EE
Education:   MBA   |  MCA   |   Engineering   |   Overseas Education   |   Internship
Life:                  Jokes   |    Bookstore   |   Relocate  |  Marketplace
Cities:             Startup   |  Real estate   |   Finance  
Company:   About us   |   Contact   |   Help   |   Community rules   |   Advertise with us   |   Sitemap
Member directory:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z   
and help us continue to improve SiliconIndia
© 2010 SiliconIndia all rights reserved