Mobile ads on the move
Vodacom is becoming increasingly involved in mobile advertising with the launch of their ‘On-The-Line’ all in one mobile advertising service.
The cellular provider has long dabbled in the field of mobile advertising through its callback service and even through its vodacom4me portal, but it is taking the concept to a different level with their new mobile advertising launch.
This new mobile advertising channel promises to ‘Enhance creative opportunities and impact, reach the right customers, break through the clutter of traditional media and maximize an advertiser’s return on investment.’
While online advertising is already a major competitor in most developed countries, South Africa’s poor broadband and Internet penetration rates mean that this growth curve has only started.
Mobile penetration rates in South Africa are however very high and the market have already reached maturity. This means that the potential mobile advertising reach rivals that of mass media mediums like radio, television and print.
South Africa’s fascination with the latest mobile technologies has created consumers that are early technology adopters, opening the door to media rich mobile advertising and marketing campaigns.
Mobile advertising to grow fast
Mobile advertising is still in its infant stages with an annual spend of only around $ 871 – Million worldwide, far less than $ 24-Billion Internet spend.
But it is early days for mobile advertising, and with the capability of handsets continually improving and a captive audience of 2.5 Billion worldwide, some analysts expect this mobile advertising to soon rival online, radio, television and print.
In South Africa the mobile advertising potential is even rosier due to the country’s very high cellular penetration rate – nearing 40 Million active SIMs.
Another great advantage of mobile advertising is the ability to accurately target certain user groups or even individuals. Just like online advertising, it is possible to gather information about an individual and only send relevant ads to that person.
International trends
Considering the potential market and with mobile providers continually looking at additional revenue streams, it is not surprising that many international players have already invested heavily in this developing field.
Mobile giant Vodafone has launched advertising through its Vodafone Live service and is dabbling with SMS text advertising. According the Economist the company is however also trialing free content to subscribers in exchange for viewing advertising.
This concept is taken even further by a UK based company called Blyk which gives subscribers a free SIM with 217 free texts and 43 free minutes per month, to any UK network, in exchange for receiving ‘brand messages’ from companies. Companies are therefore subsidizing some of the user’s mobile text and voice usage through advertising fees paid to their virtual mobile operator Blyk.
Irritating Users
SMS and MMS spam are however already a big problem in South Africa, and with the lucrative field of mobile advertising opening up, the temptation for companies with large cellular number databases to generate extra revenue is great.
While there are strict measures in place through organizations like Wireless Application Service Provider's Association (WASPA), one can expect that one or two databases may mysteriously land up in the hands of mobile advertising companies.
This is something which companies like Vodacom will have to guard against as the backlash from consumers will most likely be similar to that with email spam. Mobile phones are seen as a very personal device, and since users pay for the service they feel strongly that they should dictate what they receive.
But even with these potential pitfalls one can expect Vodacom to see significant growth with their new mobile advertising initiative.
Companies are constantly looking to reach customers through new, innovative and more effective means, and the local market is ideally placed for mobile advertising to take off.
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