Digital platform: Mobile advertising gaining currency

By Fredrick Obura

Advertising agencies relying on traditional channels to drive up sales are in for a rude shock as emerging technologies take over.

A new report shows that emerging technologies are fast taking root among consumers and in fact, some retailers were already exploiting the potential of the platform.

Carried out by Juniper Research - a firm specialising in the identification and appraisal of high growth opportunities across the mobile telecoms, content, and applications sectors - the study particularly singled out mobile phone handsets as platforms with high advertising potential.

The report says revenue from mobile phone supported advertising is set to exceed $8 billion by 2012 globally.

Speaking while releasing the report, Howard Wilcox, the report co-author also said location-aware technologies will play a key part in influencing marketing decisions.

"Companies like Google and IBM are seeking to exploit the knowledge of where users are located to enable retailers to offer shoppers a rich set of capabilities such as personalised special offers."

"As a result, we’re forecasting the mobile coupons market to double in 2012," he says.

In Kenya, the report noted the increasing use of SMS-driven applications to send out customised messages to consumers whose tastes and lifestyle can easily be deduced from the way they use their phones.

Brand Key Marketing, Jumuika, and leading telcos are currently testing the mobile ad waters and hope to exploit the growing potential of digital advertising.

"Digital platform is quickly gaining currency in the marketing industry," says Kevin Mburu, Jumuika founder.

"Wider mobile usage calls for innovation to add value to the phones."

"It is a niche area whose sights is now the target of local application developers and one that traditional advertising agencies need to target too," he says.

Launched recently, Jumuika, a local SMS-based platform for instance allows individuals to log in to a site www.jumuika.co.ke, one is profiled, and leave information on products they would like to be alerted on.

Mburu says the system allows mobile subscribers to receive SMS notification on goods or services subscribed for in a time and space of their choice.

Targeted advertising

This, he says, helps create order and allows a consumer to receive information on products only interested in.

"It eliminates taking chances of reaching out to everybody who may not be interested in what you are selling," he says.

Jumuika allows its users to get paid on SMS alert received, a strategy the company uses to build on its database and retain its consumers.

"There are over 17 million GSM subscribers in Kenya. A good number do not own a TV and many more will never own or have an access to a computer and are in fact computer-illiterate.

They can, however, access the Internet on their phones if you make it worth their time," says Judy Kiruri, founder Eyeballs, a local mobile phone advertising company.

"That makes mobile handsets a good channel for advertisers," she says.

"A medium like the mobile phone offers solution to advertisers who will be able to access consumers and customers in a more direct medium."

Upon logging on to a web address www.brandkey.eyeballs.mobi for instance, a subscriber performing basic phone tasks like making or receiving a call, and sending or receiving a text message can view advertisements subscribed for.

The platform provides options such that the product on promotion could be viewed as an image or plain text.

The image keeps on changing depending on the duration subscribed for.

Currently, the mobile marketing products in the market are not visual graphics, but text messages.

Kiruri says this has in a way limited the choices of advertisers.

"Words alone are not the optimal advertisement visual. Pictures speak volumes."

"We have designed the platform to ensure every advert gets to the targeted audience, the application sits on the user’s phone once installed and remits the advertisement in image or text form."

The revolutionary mobile application is compatible with various smart phones that use the Symbian 60 operating system as well as Windows Mobile.

The developers’ interest in mobile phone application for marketing comes at a time when Nokia and the World Bank are working together in launching different initiatives that would promote growth of local phone applications.

The two institutions contend that locally driven content in gadgets like computers and mobile phones would help in increasing Internet use in the country, a powerful tool for economic development.

Last December, the Government of Finland, along with Nokia and the World Bank/infoDev launched a new programme on creating sustainable businesses in the knowledge economy.

In the first phase of the project, the partners will work to establish a regional mobile applications laboratory in Africa.

It will serve to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in this emerging field.

The services to be offered will include training and accreditation, certification, a competition for ideas, replication and scaling up of successful ideas, mentoring of developers and acting as a repository for knowledge of application case studies.

Currently, leading telcoms companies in the country use their platforms to reach out to consumers with newly launched products.