<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>Digital: Quest for speed-dial in mobile advertising, Part Two</B></FONT>

Mobile advertising in India seems to be caught in a warp of text and banner advertising, despite its wider potential. Potential evident from the growing adoption in developed markets of advertising in every form, from mobile short movies to Bluetooth coupons. In the first part of this series, we looked at the limited adoption of mobile advertising in India. In the second part, we examine the platforms that will emerge in the not too distant future:

SMS: Given that about 15 per cent of mobile phones in India are GPRS-enabled and the flurry of activity in the low-end handset segment, text messaging, is here to stay. For now, short codes (unique five-digit numbers for SMS and MMS) rule this space and will continue to do so, though costs may come down. Besides contests, SMS can be used effectively for feedback, polls and discount coupons. It can also be targeted by time of day and location.

Cost remains the only stumbling block in these services taking off, as operators charge high rates for short code messages. Says Navin Mittal, business head at Fropper.com, “GPRS is not picking up as fast as expected. Eventually, operators will have to minimise charges for access to information on the mobile.”

With the TRAI coming down heavily on unsolicited calls and messages, marketers will have to work a way around the regulators. Perhaps, the answer lies in profiling customers, ensuring that they only get messages that interest them. This would also reduce the number of ‘Sauna Belt’ messages that are sent out en masse, regardless of the weight of the recipient!

The point is to give customers the right information at the right time. A customer who searches for restaurants on his mobile, for instance, could get a free coupon via SMS. In this manner, advertisers can use the simple power of text messages to get their message across to customers, which is less obtrusive than bombarding them with unwanted calls.

WAP: Wireless Application Protocol is a mobile browser technology that works on a wireless network like GPRS (for instance, like RelianceWorld, PlanetHutch, and AirtelLive). Currently, only 5 per cent of the mobile population in India uses GPRS, though 15 per cent of the country’s phones are enabled. But the prospects are bright. Content providers are in talks with operators to get a larger share of the revenue-sharing pie.

Once they leverage more power and convince more advertisers to come on board, consumers may get content for lower prices or even free of cost. Says Mahesh Prasad, president, applications, solutions and content group, Reliance Communications, “Richer content at reasonable cost for consumers is the key to mobile advertising in India. We expect advertisers here to follow the US example and offer more data and voice services.”

Free content supported by advertisers could bridge the gap between cost and content for consumers. Branded portals, available for users at no access cost, are the key to boosting mobile web browsing. For instance, Mauj Telecom has a mobile ad platform called Ad Genie, which offers banners with a click-to-call functionality. This will let consumers get in touch with the advertiser directly through a voice call or SMS. “Very few advertisers have external links on their banners which would make them more interactive,” says Manoj Dawane, CEO, Mauj Telecom.

Truly, advertisers seldom create an original campaign with mobile in mind. What usually happens is an extension of the mass campaign, which may be entirely out of place on the mobile. What’s the point in having a minuscule Internet-type banner on a mobile portal, for instance?

However, the advertisers won’t come until the customers do, and what’s holding them back are the twin limitations of high cost and network isolation. Most WAP portals have a subscription cost varying between Rs 25 and Rs 50 per month. And this does not include download costs per kb and use of premium services like e-mail on mobile.

Currently, WAP services offered by carriers are islands of limited information. There is no interconnectivity between, say, AirtelLive and PlanetHutch. Both offer advertisers a separate base of users, an unthinkable situation for Internet portals.

Possibly as an answer to these limitations, Webaroo has developed a mobile browser, which is mostly network-agnostic and stores information in the user’s phone. It only requires a GPRS connection and is independent of the content offered by the carrier.

Says Chirag Jain, vice-president, India operations, Webaroo, “For mobile advertising to reach its full potential, carriers, advertisers and marketers must use multiple technologies and business models.” As with the Internet in India a decade ago, expect business models to develop here.

(In the concluding part of this series, we will explore the next level and look at the emerging multimedia options in mobile advertising.)

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