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BigAdda.com to spend Rs 4 crore to market its mobile version

BigAdda.com has launched a TVC, radio spots and outdoor campaigns, and plans to carry out below-the-line activities to promote its mobile version.

BigAdda.com, a social networking site owned by Reliance Entertainment, plans to expand its user base. It is targeting the growing mobile market in the country as a source to boost the number of its users.

To begin with, BigAdda.com is offering its services on both GPRS and non-GPRS mobile handsets. It has launched a mobile site developed for mobile browsers, Wap.BigAdda.com, which is a complete adaptation of the online version.

BigAdda is also enabling mobile users to download and install an application, Mobile Adda, on their mobile handsets. Mobile Adda is compatible with 500 different mobile models. It is stored in the internal memory of the handset and the user does not need a mobile browser to access it. Mobile Adda enables the user to integrate his phone book and invite friends from his phone book to use it.

Speaking to afaqs!, Shivanandan Pare, chief operating officer, BigAdda.com, says, “We want to expand our market through mobile phones as it offers members from a large user base of 300 million subscribers. Also, mobile penetration is higher than Internet penetration. Since our services are based on GPRS connectivity, we are now targeting users from a base of 90 million, which comprises 40 million subscribers on the Internet and 50 million GPRS mobile phone users.”

Pare adds, “Availability on mobile will help us to move to the next level of localisation. We already receive 50 per cent of our traffic from Tier II towns.”

BigAdda.com has planned a marketing budget of Rs 4 crore to promote its services on mobile. It has launched a TV commercial, which is airing on various channels such as STAR One, NDTV Imagine, Aaj Tak, AXN, Zee Café, SET Max, Sun TV, Gemini and ESPN.

The portal is also using radio and outdoor advertising across 50 locations in India. There are plans to start below-the-line (BTL) activities across various colleges and coffee shops in 10-12 cities. Creativeland Asia has developed the TVC and Mudra's Optimum Media Solutions is handling the media planning and buying duties for BigAdda.com.

BigAdda.com is also using display advertising on portals such as Yahoo.co.in and Rediff.com. It plans to carry out banner advertising on various mobile portals as well.

Other prominent social networking players, Orkut.com, Facebook.com and MySpace.com, already have their mobile versions. Both Orkut.com and Facebook.com have mobile sites, but they are not localised for India. Facebook.com also offers SMS based messaging among its members and it has developed a downloadable application for Blackberry users.

Speaking to afaqs!, Deep Malhotra, director, sales, MySpace.com, India, says, “MySpace has a mobile strategy for India. We have a WAP site called m.myspace.com, which is a stripped down version of MySpace.com. We are planning to localise our mobile site for India, launch an SMS enabled version to boost the reach of our network and a downloadable application in the near future. There are no Indian advertisers on the MySpace mobile site as of now.”

Malhotra claims that the MySpace mobile site is already one of the top 10 mobile sites in India. He adds, “In the US, we receive 1.7 million unique visitors on our mobile site daily.”