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SMS GupShup transforms mobile advertising
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 11 August 2010, 22:18 IST
Mumbai: SMS GupShup, a mobile social network, has announced that more than 150 advertisers, including eBay India, Pepsi, Airtel, Tata and others, have run campaigns on its network. Their advertisers' profile range from global brands to regional and national organizations. SMS GupShup provides the platform to reach that set of audience, previously unreachable through any other digital medium.
This success of SMS GupShup goes on to prove how mobile communities engage their customers, thereby driving loyalty and also increase the customer base. This process is far more effective than regular advertising. Brands can get direct feedback from their customers as well as inform, interact and transact with them.
Muralikrishnan B., Director of Marketing, eBay India, says, "Advertising on SMS GupShup provides us with an opportunity to reach out to India's large and fast growing mobile phone user base."
There are many ways and means through which this platform is used effectively by advertisers. Turner Imagine, a GEC, used SMS GupShup to increase TRPs of their reality shows by driving viewer engagement. UTI Mutual Fund has built a mobile community of over half a million users on SMS GupShup, where it provides general investment advice and selective financial market updates. TATA Jagruti, a unique program to awaken the entrepreneurial spirit in the youth of India via a train ride to meet the local entrepreneurs across the country, tapped GupShup for a mobile engagement program.
Other brand advertisers on the network include Microsoft, Cadbury, Nokia, Ford, Puma, Maybelline, Dell, Kingfisher, Sun Microsystems and ING Financial. Brands run SMS ads and create mobile communities, similar to fan sites that appear on traditional web-based social networks.
Beerud Sheth, CEO, SMS GupShup, said, "For brands looking to engage with the consumer in emerging markets, SMS GupShup has become of one of the most exciting, effective and measurable mediums. Just like it's essential for every brand to have a website in the western markets, it's essential for every brand to have a mobile community in the emerging markets - it is simply the only way to engage with billions of consumers."
