IAMAI: Mobile marketing is a growing space; needs strict regulations

At the Mobile Conclave 2010, issues surrounding mobile marketing were discussed at length

IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) held the first edition of its Mobile Conclave 2010, on October 13, at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

The conclave saw experts from the industry come together and discuss a range of subjects of interest to stakeholders in the industry. This included the 3G-4G debate, possible approaches to technology solutions, mobile-commerce, mobile marketing and mobile applications. The event also served as a platform to deliberate on forming strategic partnerships, which would help deliver next-generation mobile technology solutions in the country.

One of the panel discussions of the day was on mobile marketing. The panel comprised Satya Yerramsetti, chief executive officer, 160by2; Chhaya Balachandran Aiyer, founder and managing director, BC Web Wise; Yogesh Bijlani, country head, India and general manager, Asia Pacific, Telenity; Romit Mitra, head, brands/media business, 2ergo India; Rammohan Sundaram, founder, networkplay.in; and Suresh Kumar Jayaraju, vice-president, VAS and 3G, Reliance Communications. The session was moderated by Abhijeet Saxena, chief executive officer, Netcore.

Saxena began with a short introduction, referring to a recent story carried in a leading finance newspaper, which stated that mobile marketing is hyped and somewhat controversial. "There exists a mismatch between what clients, marketers and statistics have to say about mobile marketing. There are many things that hold it back, (such as the negative aspects of SMS marketing) while there are others that push it forward," Saxena stated to the panel at large.

Contextual advertising in the SMS space

Yerramsetti responded that SMS was the first level of entry into mobile marketing for advertisers. "SMS is a powerful medium, as it's literally in people's hands. Why do you think during the recent Ayodhya verdict issue, the system of bulk SMS -- as opposed to any other medium -- was banned?"

He went on to explain that contextual advertising was the next big thing. "Appending an advertisement in an SMS, depending on the content of the text message, is the answer to spam. Say, a message pertains to hunger; the ad therein could be that of 'Dominos - Hungry Kya?' Even mobile alerts could be utilised as ad spaces."

Before passing the baton to Mitra, Yerramsetti fleetingly touched upon the backlash of SMS ads. "Some may believe that bulk SMSs may lead to negative branding and may also invade the recipients' privacy," he admitted.

Mitra imparted his take on the issue, stating that mobile browsing is bound to undergo maturity. "While there's a burst of mobile applications in the West; in India, the mobile browser is very sustainable and just as rich. Via HTML5, one may now have access to specific properties (such as videos or GPS)," enthused Mitra.

Sundaram took the discussion forward, by putting forth the point that brands today are adapting to this new medium, as they need to ensure that consumers' eyebrows are constantly raised. "Bigger the screen, better the delivery; the market is huge and brand communication can be upped significantly if marketers find the right kind of innovations in this space," he opined.

Mitra also confided that though people often perceive the mobile medium as a "cold", emotionless one, in his opinion, it is far from impersonal. He added that injecting richness into the content conveyed via this medium must be a priority.

The "culture of connectivity"

Aiyer shared some facts and figures in her short yet insightful presentation. She stated that according to a study conducted by BCG (Boston Consulting Group), there will be 237 million internet users by 2015. Also, between 2010 and 2030, India will be home to 241 million working-age individuals.

Stating that mobile technology is bound to revolutionalise the way transactions in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sector are conducted, Aiyer added, "India has the population advantage and the youth will drive the actualisation process of mobile marketing. For corporations, the mobile medium is a channel for marketing, sales and delivery. The culture of connectivity is spreading."

Aiyer went on to explain that all other mediums can be linked to the mobile medium through the use of short codes and PoP (point of purchase) strategies, such as the use of e-brochures. "A Nielsen study shows that smart-phone adaptation is growing very fast. This space is becoming the activity base for a lot of people," she stressed, citing examples, such as Google's re-introduction of the click-to-call mobile search and the spurt in mobile gaming.

Bijlani also shared enlightening figures. "62 per cent of all handsets are entry-level phones and 3 per cent are smart phones. Out of the consumer base of 670 million, 40 per cent use SMS; while 10 per cent use mobile internet," he said.

He added that the ecosystem is now ready for location-based advertising. "Say, you walk into a mall. You can be alerted, through your phone, about the movies -- and the show timings -- playing in the vicinity. The alerts could be phone-specific too; a smart phone user may receive these alerts in the form of video promos; while others may receive them in regular text form," mused Bijlani.

The issue of safe browsing

Jayaraju raised the crucial issue of the requirement of regulations in the mobile space, after informing that the total revenue generated from mobile marketing is Rs 120 crore (Rs 2 per subscriber).

"There prevails the need for a proper framework of guidelines in order to enable safe browsing. A policy involving the key components of every message -- the provider, the content, charge, frequency of messaging, options to unsubscribe -- needs to be drawn, along with clearly charted out penalties for operators who violate these regulations," said Jayaraju, concluding, "Without controls, the horse will go helter-skelter. Regulation is the key without which the industry won't grow!"

Amongst questions from the audience fielded by the panellists, the ones that generated maximum flurry were related to the absence of CSR (corporate social responsibility) and spamming overload.