<font color="#CC0033">Mobile Conversations: </font>Mobile advertising is highly interactive

At the first ever mobile advertising event held by afaqs!, Mobile Conversations, the second session had moderator Ajay Vaishnavi, director, telecom, Indiatimes.com, opening the floor for a discussion on the role of the mobile in a marketing campaign. Mobile Conversations was held at the ITC Sheraton in New Delhi on Friday.

Murthy flagged off the session with his presentation, taking it right from where it all started – the fact that factors such as media proliferation, gender blurring, technology in one’s everyday life and the concept of a ‘glocal’ world have changed the way the world looks and thinks. This, for brand managers, means that the engagement of the consumer must be done in a different manner, with new connection points such as malls, multiplexes, music and the device in discussion, the mobile.

In 2010, with developments moving fast, one can predict that broadband, DTH, IPTV, webcasting and bluecasting will take media proliferation to higher levels. Where traditional media has served the multiple purposes of making aware, reminding and informing, with the scenario of media consumption changing, only television is predicted to cater to awareness; all other media – from cinema to bluecasting as well as traditional media such as radio, print and even outdoor and mobile – will serve as engagement drivers.

Realising that the mobile is ideally suited for one on one interaction, Coca-Cola launched the ‘Kheloge to Jeetoge’ mobile marketing campaign for its soft drink brand, Sprite. Murthy discussed how, for the first time, the brand utilised the mobile as a core instrument of communication, with other media being used only to support the mobile campaign.

The mobile campaign, the primary peg of the initiative, got consumers to engage with the Sprite brand. Outdoor was utilised as a reminder medium. Radio and print served as information devices. Television was used to build awareness around the campaign and thus, the brand. On the mobile, SMS, web and WAP integration, long code and redeemable talk time drew consumers to the campaign. With a response rate of 1.5 million, and only growing, the campaign seems to have done a great job for Sprite.

Thadani drew the audience’s attention to the stark differences in perceptions and reality regarding the business of mobile marketing. A lot of people perceive mobile advertising as being limited to unsolicited calls and messages, he said, but with facilities such as SMS, WAP and voice, it has a lot more to offer. Another perception is that most people are not aware of mobile advertising. On the contrary, he said, users are well informed enough to accept and respond to mobile advertising.

Thadani spoke about advertising in three media – traditional, online and mobile – on a comparative basis. Though traditional advertising is used to reach the masses, it lacks customisation and interactivity due to its very nature. Online advertising is one to one advertising and designed differently to suit different audiences. Mobile advertising is location based and highly interactive.

He gave a few instances of GroupM, which had prepared singular, independent mobile campaigns for STAR’s airing of Pirates of the Caribbean and for ICICI Bank iMobile. It has used mobile advertising as a support medium for clients such as Tourism of Ireland and HSBC Premier.

Discussing the measurability of a mobile campaign, Thadani said the reach of a mobile advertising campaign determines its uniqueness; investment determines the return on investment (ROI), and platforms determine usability.

He also talked of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) going mobile, with the objective of reaching out to cricket lovers and positioning the IPL as an experience. Mobile was chosen because of its high reach and because of its functionalities such as SMS and voice. The campaign reached around 11 per cent of the country’s population in just eight weeks! The community strength was 25,777 and user interactions, 1,30,253. There were 85,935 downloads in 15 days, and 8,18,500 users opted for Karmayudh as their caller ringback tune (CRBT).

Prasanth Mohanachandran kept his presentation short, putting his message across through the mobile campaigns for two brands: Johnny Walker Black and American Express Platinum Card. These campaigns used customised applications which functioned as digital PAs to serve their clients. The Johnny Walker application, for instance, was distributed at bars and included services such as drinks information and dialling for a cab.

(To download the Mobile Marketing Special Report, please click here.)