RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS
Q: That in accordance with the research which states that around 50% of mobile users in Asia seem to be willing to receive advertising in return for free apps or a lower phone bill. Do you think that this is the business model of the future? That’s the way to go for the mobile advertising industry in the region and globally? Rohit Dadwal: That number actually points to the economic and demographic frame of the markets that we are in, which is huge and as much as 15% of the household income can be spent on a mobile phone and services in most of these markets. That eats into education, health care and food and maybe even housing a little bit. If that can be supplemented with free ads that can reduce the cost from say 15% to 12%, why would you not want it? Remember, these are the masses who are the next one billion customers. If they can reduce their cost by 2%, by receiving free advertisements, they will do it. Consumers want advertising on a medium like mobile, because it becomes targeted and personal. They get more relevant information, which is not a spill-over from a brand’s perspective. However, it also becomes more risky, because
if you start sending something which is not truly personalized - it may turn people off. In the Internet business it was pop ups that clearly were wrong for the industry and we will step in to work to stop offensive pop ups that annoy consumers on their mobiles as we think it is bad for consumer experience, too. Greg Stuart: For emerging markets this will definitely play a more active role as we move forward, and we have not even explored voice advertising yet. Mobile is and was actually meant for voice and all these things that we are talking about are additional services. We have not even touched voice advertising, yet. If listening to jingles can reduce the cost of my phone call to almost zero, I will want that. And probably my jingle already knows who I am and knows from a demographic perspective what segment I am in. Thus, customers will feel less disturbed due to more relevance. How brands start tailoring their messages and communication strategies must become very specific. Q: Given that the Asian consumers are receptive to mobile ads, there is great potential for growth in the market here. What impact do you expect will it have on the operations and expectations of MMA?
Rohit Dadwal: More people at the table means more resources for the MMA to do more work to help develop that market place. It makes it a much more exciting, much more vibrant place. With our growing industry there is reason to believe there should be some kind of regulation in that field, be it selfregulated or enforced. Regulation requires wise guidance and that’s really what we are doing. We are helping build a framework under which the industry needs to work. We at MMA believe that it needs to be self-regulated; we believe all of our members will sign up with us and then adhere to the guidelines and practices that we are working on, the consumer best practices, the code of conduct, etc. We are also playing the role of quasiconsultant advisor to the regulators so that they understand that this is an industry which is growing and that there needs to be framework around the growth and enforcing
5