“Bluetooth could be for a niche segment that can do well at high foot-fall areas. But it would have to discover methods where the interaction is continuous once the customer is out of Bluetooth coverage. It would have a limited scope in India for niche segments,” states Rajiv Madhok, director, One97 Communications.

Security is another pitfall in the way of successful marketing campaigns using the technology. “As people tend to keep their Bluetooth off due to the fear of transmission of spams and viruses, it really can't become a mass marketing instrument,” says Tim Williams, co-founder & executive VP, worldwide sales, Flytxt.

At present, companies like Cafe Coffee Day, Pantaloon, Levis, Adidas and Pepsi have offered mobile content free of cost and discounts via Bluetooth in India.

Among new segments, in-game advertising is one of the fastest growing areas. According to the Yankee Group, revenues are predicted to grow from $732 mn by 2010, up from $56 mn in 2005.

USSD services are another area gaining traction in the market. It includes subscription alerts, prepaid recharge services, etc. Location based advertising is another very relevant technology to which enables reaching the right customer, at the right time and location.

“This is a push service that is event driven where the user receives a notification (IVR, SMS, USSD, MMS) based on his preference, location or movement. For example for a person who has chosen “restaurants” for receiving mobile advertisements will receive a mobile coupon alert giving him discount information as he passes near a McDonald's outlet,” says Yogesh Bijlani, vice president, sales, Asia Pacific, Telenity.

There has to be innovative business models otherwise RoI is not going to be an easy cakewalk Krishna Durbha, head, VAS business & marketing, Reliance Communications	Bluetooth could be a niche segment that can do well at high foot-fall areas but interactions have to be continuous when customer is out of its coverage Rajiv Madhok, director, One97 Communications	Today most campaigns are in SMS, in English which rural India can not easily understand C Mohan Ram, MD, Lattice Bridge Infotech	In the coming days, targeted advertisement will emerge as a big ticket application Anil Sardana, MD, Tata Teleservices

There is also another business model where companies such as mGinger, mGarlic, YouMint, 160by2, etc, are providing-SMS advertisement services in which a consumer will receive ads of only those particular products or services that he is interested in buying. Interestingly, it also pays the consumer depending upon the ad he receives in a particular day. However, most of these companies have not been able to succeed in a big way.

“Although it is interesting to see what the global trends are, it is important that operators focus on channels and needs of their own country. For instance, implementing a mobile email based campaign may not be suitable if the majority of your subscribers are avid SMS users,” underlines Ronan Casey, CTO, Asia Pacific, Acision.

Forward March
The success of any mobile marketing initiative solely depends upon the end user who also expects to make interactivity selections as per his decision.

“User privacy should be the key concern for all service providers. At any level it should not be compromised and an effective mechanism should be in place for the same,” says Kiran Konduri, co-founder, Asklaila.

Agrees Jagdish Mitra, CEO, Canvas M “Advertisements should be specific to consumer interests and demographics mentioned during sign-up.”

While mobile marketing does seem like a possible cause of the breach of privacy, it does not necessarily have to be so. The key to this in opting for DNDs (do-not-disturb) and DNCs (do-not-call) registry which give the option of not receiving promotional messages and/or information. Therefore, to reach consumers without breaching their privacy, companies will have to look for more innovative models.

“Like all other forms of marketing, there are things to keep in mind: online, which includes email spam, display advertising, pop ups; offline, which includes junk mail reaching your home. Hence mobile marketing will also have its share of junk. Responsible companies however rely on options when it comes to direct marketing,” says Ashish Gupta, managing director, Helion Advisors.

Further, rural segments also represent a vast opportunity for personalized advertisement. As this space is maturing, marketers can actually educate farmers and villagers about the best quality seeds, ways to keep crops healthy and so on. However, barriers related to language and education would be a key concern here.

“Today most advertisement campaigns are in SMS in English, which rural India cannot easily understand. Voice adverts is the future, where this dependency would be removed. But voice calls are still not as cheap as SMS,” says C Mohan Ram, managing director, Lattice Bridge Infotech.

In a country that represents over one third of the mobile subscriber base with an average balance of Rs 10, there is still a huge demand for infotainment. People also want to connect to the third screen and want selected ads and alerts but for free.

The major challenge is to build an ecosystem with constructive partnership to communicate with highly targeted and profiled users for mobile marketing.

Jatinder Singh
jatinders@cybermedia.co.in