Going Mobile

Mobile is the new frontier of advertising with the ability to reach the masses like no other medium before it. It is also an essential ingredient of human communication allowing information to reach consumers at any time, anywhere.

Cricket has been the passion of India from time immemorial. During the cricket season, it is natural to find flocks of enthusiasts crowded around TV sets at the office, in the home, and outside TV retail stores all watching the match and cheering on their team. Commuters on buses and trains can be seen with transmitters glued to their ears. And today, a new trend is being observed.

Passionate fans are using their mobile phones as the preferred medium to catch up on the countrys favorite game. Mobile provides access to a host of mobile sports sites and applications while fans are on-the-go. This behavior provides an excellent opportunity for brands to reach their advertising target while using mobile advertising. Consumers are almost permanently attached to their mobile device making it the ideal medium to connect with people wherever they are. Mobile advertising is no longer a luxury for brands, it is a necessary component to help them achieve their objectives.

Why is cricket getting married to mobile?

Mobile is an effective channel due to the many different ways people can engage on it. Its the one medium that encompasses the features of all other mediums audio, visual, social, and connected.

Mobile allows fans to follow:
Live scores of ongoing matches
Latest results of matches between different teams
Upcoming matches and the schedules of different teams
Points table to track the performance of teams
Live video streams to view highlights
Mobile content like wallpapers of favourite cricketers, themes revolving around cricket, games, etc.
Engaging activities like contests, polls, quizzes, etc.
Social networking to share the experience with friends and family
News and analysis of different matches by industry experts

InMobi conducted a survey to identify the consumer behavior and preferences with respect to mobile advertising. One of the results of the survey shows the user receptiveness to actions available on the mobile ad. Some examples would be Click to Call, Click to Purchase etc. In the Internet world, people click ads to mainly surf and learn something new. But in the mobile world, people click on ads for a different reason. This clearly shows that mobile is not the PC and shouldnt be treated like an extension of it. Unlike PC, mobile brings to the table many dimensions of creative opportunity.

Reasons for the success of mobile in India:-

According to a recent report released by Google, India has emerged as the second largest consumer of mobile Internet, second only to the US. The number of mobile Internet users has grown nearly five times in the past five years. The number of new data connections added this year is predicted to be higher on the mobile than on PC.

There are 3 key reasons for this explosive growth:

1. Fixed line Internet connections are bad, unreliable, or non-existent in much of India. This makes mobile the only medium of connectivity for one of the worlds largest countries.
2. Operators are highly competitive in India and data plans are getting less expensive for consumers. New offers and deals providing internet connectivity on the mobile for reasonable and affordable costs are being offered continuously.
3. Low handset prices have made mobile phone affordable to everyone. The result is mobile phones have proliferated not just urban cities, but the rural areas as well.

When it comes to advertising, consumers in India are ready for mobile advertisements and see the benefit that it can provide. The survey results show us that 72% of Indian consumers are already embracing the benefits of mobile advertising.

Mobile advertising and cricket

The mobile web and downloadable applications are also influencing the way consumers update themselves with cricket news, causing a surge in activities such as mobile score checks, cricket application downloads, purchases of cricket videogames, wallpapers, themes, games etc.

Given the rich content and media experience building up around the game, advertisers that affiliate themselves with cricket will improve their connection to consumers and position themselves as modern, relevant brands. Being on mobile conveys an understanding of the new generation with an up-to-date understanding of the latest advertising channels.

With a properly executed mobile advertising strategy, brands can engage their audience in a non-intrusive manner and generate tangible results in ways that traditional media channels cannot.

In addition to developing a one-to-one relationship with consumers, mobile advertising also helps achieve the following:

Drives brand awareness and loyalty
Drives consumers into brick-and-mortar locations
Enhances multi-channel campaign efforts
Increases sales, conversions, and customer acquisition

A look at the perceived benefits of mobile advertising among users, shows that consumers feel the benefits of mobile advertising across all aspects of the advertising funnel from branding to conversion to price offers. This knowledge opens up a realm of opportunities for advertisers to reach out to consumers in different ways with different offers. Consumers are ready, they are aware and they are receptive.

Source: InMobi New Nike Shoes