The Mobile Marketing Phenomenon: Towards Personalisation

Human beings as a species have an insatiable thirst for more that, it seems, cannot be quenched. Over the last few decades we have come up with some amazing things and what the human mind can come up with still does not seize to amaze.

First came the Internet, a few years later it was being used as a tool to market more and more products and services to a larger audience. It was not only cost effective, but it was also quick and easy to manage. The Internet gave companies, the means to reach markets and do things they could not otherwise do by using conventional means.

Anyways, It also spawned a new era of products and services being sold online. This not only gave way to more innovative thinking but also a new technology called e-commerce. A means for an individual in lets say Khatmandu to be using a service in the US or Pakistan. But that was not it, we wanted more and more and more…more convenience, more leisure, more services, more products…more More MORE!

And that is what we got, technology started making our lives simpler and better every day, gadgets started getting smaller and a hundred times better than from back in the day. Mobile phone became a norm and pretty soon everyone had a cell phone. This gave way to a new wave of opportunities to the marketers who had been aching to find a faster and more effective way of reaching the masses and hence Mobile Marketing was born!

The early adopters were those who did not react to the prices too much, teenagers to people in their early twenties started fueling the growth. These individuals were replacing buying clothes, shoes, book and movie tickets with buying ringtones, graphics, games etc. It has been seen that the youth of any country is the key to starting a trend, when the youngsters adopt something, it spreads like fire. To turn the small fire into a blaze, manufacturers started making handsets which could support better services and eventually better handsets at lower prices to increase the adoption rate.

Pretty soon everyone caught on and companies were offering all kinds of services on mobile/smart phones/PDA’s. The most popular ones were;

• Financial Institutions: Mobile banking
• Telecommunications
• Information services
• Location based services and more…

Mobile marketing took a new turn somewhere along the line and it became a premium tool being used for companies to send their message across. There was a shift towards a dialogue where the consumers were willing to share information and the marketers were able to use that information in more valuable ways.

There are four key factors that distinguish Mobile Marketing:

• Permission based: Consumers need to give their permission before being marketed too unlike other conventional marketing techniques like TV Commercials, Direct Mail, Radio Ads etc.
• Live: Responses are in real-time due to the nature of mobile phones and its users
• Targeted: By sharing information,  marketers are able to target them with specifics
• Two-way: Consumers can not only respond but request information that suits their needs

Now one can ask, why is mobile successful? Allow me to answer:

• Innovative Business Models
• Consumer Adoption
• Availablity of Technology
• Blending of various systems

Going into details will make this post lenghty and boring so I wont.

The services that I know off being offered in Pakistan using Mobile Commerce/Mobile Marketing are the following:

• Top Ups/Mobile Recharge/Transfer of Balance to other mobile users (Ufone/Telenor etc.)
• Payment of Utility Bills (KESC, SSGC etc.)
• Mobile Banking (Funds Transfer/Balance Inquiry, Service Updates etc.)
• Info Services (Cricket Updates, Prayer Timings, Special Events updates etc.)

Pakistan has massive potential to adopt more services being offered via M-Commerce/Marketing. It is not only restricted to the banking industry, Agha’s Supermarket can adopt the technology and update their regular customers on latest offers, new items in stock etc. The mobile phone could become the link between the store and the customer. I am a Warid subscriber and I get regular updates and event notifications through the Warid Info Services, For a small fee I am up to date with the latest happenings in and around the city, I can find out h0w badly Pakistan was beaten in a cricket match, which way is north and much more. All these services at a low monthly cost are acceptable and keeps me loyal to Warid and my mobile services.

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