MxMIndia

Tag: Rohit Dadwal

  • Accroding to an MMA-Warc APAC study, consumer appetite for content will drive spends

    Content, not display ads to rule on Mobiles

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    As more mobile consumers across Asia-Pacific embrace practices like multi-screening and video watching, marketers expect an eventual shift away from display advertising towards innovative content.

     

    Annual research conducted by Warc in association with the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) – State of the Industry: Mobile Marketing in Asia survey – found that while 70% of marketers currently use display advertising, only 44% plan to use it in five years’ time. Content, in contrast, is set to speed ahead during this period and take the pole position, with adoption rising from 33% today to 49% expected in 2020.

     

    This corresponds with the marketers’ perception of video’s rising significance in mobile platforms. The study found that watching video was now considered by 51% of respondents as an important mobile consumer behaviour, up 15 percentage points compared to 2014 and 23 percentage points from 2013. Multi-screening, meanwhile, continues to be seen as the most significant consumer trend for the second year running, with 68% indicating its importance.

     

    Rising consumer expectations present emerging challenges

    Given mobile consumers’ increasing sophistication, more marketers now see content and consumer concerns over privacy as critical challenges, at 31% and 33% respectively – about the same proportion as those who are concerned about budgets (32%) and reliable metrics for measuring success (33%). The latter two concerns were ranked higher than the former in previous years, with budgets being the chief concern in 2013.

     

    “Confidence in the channel’s importance continues to rise and the investments speak for themselves,” said Edward Pank, Managing Director at Warc Asia Pacific. “The ongoing challenge now is that today’s consumers expect much more of their mobile content and experience. So in order to keep up, marketers need to hone their skills further and innovate strategically.”

     

    While more attention is being paid to consumer-focused issues, the biggest barrier to the growth of mobile marketing in Asia-Pacific remains the skills gap and lack of understanding within the industry, as identified by 40% of the respondents. Although this proportion is slightly lower than last year (45%), the consistency indicates a sustained struggle to deploy the appropriate advanced capabilities to engage consumers through mobile in such a fast-moving landscape. This is despite the fact that the number of marketers assigning over 10% of their budgets to mobile has risen from one in five (20%) in 2013 to one in three (34%) now.

     

    Conducted between March and May 2015, the study involved 287 respondents from 17 countries in Asia Pacific. This is the third iteration of research designed to gauge the attitudes of clientside advertisers and marketing services agencies towards mobile marketing.

     

    In the study, Singapore was named the most innovative market in mobile, with 41% of respondents highlighting it as such. Appropriately, the 2015 study’s findings were released at the 2015 MMA Forum in Singapore, taking place at the Grand Hyatt today. The definitive industry event brings together technology pioneers, business leaders and experts to discuss new capabilities in the mobile toolbox – programmatic, location, video – and new ways to acquire and reach consumers.

     

    “The increasing focus on the consumers and what they want – which is compelling, refreshing content on the go – is important because mobile’s distinct advantage lies in its immediacy and proximity to the consumers. It puts power in the consumers’ hand wherever they go, giving them the choice to be social, to share, capture, augment, and purchase – all at the touch of a button,” said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, MMA Asia-Pacific. “The findings from this third study with Warc signal that brands and marketers must continue riding on the momentum of mobile by sustaining an integrated approach and challenging creative boundaries.”

     

    The previous iterations of the survey showed that despite rising awareness of the power and potential of mobile, brands and marketers had been grappling with rapid technological changes, budget considerations, and measurement of outcomes, struggling to develop cohesive mobile strategies. While these challenges remain to varying extent, the latest study indicates that more attention is being paid to consumer-focused innovation.

     

    Among the study’s other findings:

    • Mobile wallet and location-based marketing set to play key role going forward

    o While only two in five (40%) plan to use mobile wallet technology this year, this adoption rate is expected to rise strongly to 64% in 2020.

    o Location-based marketing is shown to be well entrenched in mobile marketing strategy in the region, with a significant majority of marketers (84%) planning to use the technology this year and 85% in 2020.

    • Programmatic buying of ads is gathering pace

    o Programmatic adoption appears to be improving: 79% of respondents have some familiarity with the buying mechanism, a sharp increase from 48% last year

    o The importance of real-time buying is also well-recognised, with 62% expecting it to be ‘very’ important to their marketing strategy in 2020

    • More attention is being given to mobile strategy

    o Half of brand owners (54%) state that they do have a formal mobile strategy, up from 44% last year

    o Just under a quarter (24%) of the agencies surveyed said that the majority of their clients had a formal mobile marketing strategy this year, up from 20% in 2014

    • Mobile is well integrated with other marketing initiatives

    o Overall, 88% of mobile marketing strategies in Asia-Pacific are connected to wider marketing activities. 40% of respondents use mobile to measure interest and/or engagement in ad campaigns across other media

    o 84% of respondents currently find social media to be a good complement to mobile marketing, with online search following closely at 60%, a 12 percentage points increase from 2014. Traditional media – print, outdoor, radio – seem to have lost out as a result

    • The top mobile innovators

    o Travel, Transport and Tourism was recognised as the most innovative product category for mobile marketing in Asia-Pacific for the second year running

    o Unilever, recognised for its scale across the region, is also regarded as the most innovative brand in Asia-Pacific, a risk taker in the mobile world. Samsung, which had been at the top in 2013 and 2014, came fourth this year, lagging behind Apple. CocaCola, meanwhile, took the second position, with favourable comments on its engaging mobile content.

     

  • Use of Android phones is primary reason for the growth in mobile usage, says Opera Mediaworks & Mobile Marketing Association report

    India among Top 4 data consumers in APAC

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    This may come as no surprise to many. India is among the top four data-consuming countries in the Asia Pacific region, when it comes to smartphones. A recently-released study by mobile ad platform Opera Mediaworks and the global body, Mobile Marketing Association, shows that India, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, have seen a dramatic 545 per cent increase in the adoption of smartphones since 2013. The four countries have been dubbed the ‘Power 4’ or P4, according to the APAC State of Mobile Advertising report. The findings are based on Second Quarter of 2015 data from 400 million unique users on the Opera Mediaworks platform.

     

    According to Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association APAC: “We believe marketers in Asia are best positioned to be leaders in global mobile innovation, building campaigns that harness the potential of the medium and the mobile audience. Opera’s stunning data proves that the future of mobile lies in Asia.”

     

    “India remains one of the most exciting markets in Asia when it comes to smartphone adoption, and rapid shift of consumers to make mobile as primary screen,” says Vikas Gulati, Managing Director, Asia, Opera Mediaworks. “Mobile advertising, on the other hand, is highly underrepresented in India and there is massive opportunity for advertisers to connect with the prime prospects, deliver rich and meaningful experiences at a time and place when it matters the most.”

     

    Mobile growth can largely be attributed to the rapid adoption of Android devices. In the second quarter, the Android operating system took the No. 1 position in the market share of impressions served to mobile devices, accounting for more than 60 per cent of traffic in APAC and over 55 per cent in India.

     

    Findings for India indicate that nine out of 10 mobile users in India are male, and Indian users are overwhelmingly young; the average user age being under 23. About 50 per cent of them are between 18-23 years old. And while the most visited mobile sites and apps by users in the P4 region are in the social networking category, Indian users are more drawn to sites and apps that serve music, video, media and entertainment, followed by technology content. The top three countries in the P4 region in terms of data consumption are Vietnam, Indonesia and India, and the average data consumption in these countries respectively is around 90, 65 and 60 MB per month.

     

    Moreover, in India, social networking sites and apps provided the highest number of impressions for advertisers, followed by news and information, and sports. The impressions of advertising on communication services is much higher than the global average by — and as much as 15x higher — for revenue.

     

    The P4 countries represent less than half (43 per cent) of the population of Asia, account for less than 30 per cent of regional internet users — yet over 76 per cent of these users access the internet via mobile. For India, Opera estimates that 77 per cent of internet users can access the web via a mobile device. Business, finance and investing publishers fared well, accounting for a whopping 42 per cent of revenue paid to mobile publishers across the P4 region.

     

    “Opera Mediaworks represents almost 50 per cent of audience share of the market in India. We are making significant investments to grow the ecosystem, share insights on consumer behaviour and trends in mobile content consumption to help marketers better leverage the mobile opportunity,” adds Gulati.

     

    The full report can be accessed at: http://www.operamediaworks.com/innovation-and-insights/state-of-mobile-advertising-apac-2015-q2

     

  • Mobile Marketing Association has strengthened its India presence with the former IAMAI President as incharge

    MMA strengthens India presence, Preeti Desai is Country Manager

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the leading non-profit trade mobile marketing association, has announced the appointment of Preeti Desai as Country Manager in India. The MMA serves the growing mobile marketing ecosystem in India with support from GroupM, in a collaboration that was recently extended for the third year running.

     

    “The MMA currently leads the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies in Singapore, India, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam,” said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association APAC. “Preeti’s appointment marks MMA’s continued commitment toward building and implementing mobile marketing best practices in India. Her solid industry experience, and vision will be crucial in helping us pave the way forward for the mobile industry in the country.”

     

    Some of the MMA’s priorities will include increasing the adoption of existing MMA Best Practices and Guidelines; recommending adaptations for local market conditions where appropriate; promoting education and skills development for practitioners; and developing suitable measurement metrics and tools for the industry. Preeti Desai’s appointment as country manager for India is a step toward ensuring that all players in the mobile marketing ecosystem get adequate support.

     

    Desai joins the MMA after a stint at Rediff.com India where she was Vice President Strategic Alliances, evangelising the spliced TV advertising opportunity to the leading SME’s across sectors and geographies. Between 2004 and 2006, Desai was the Founding President of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, working with industry and government stakeholders and end users to address key industry challenges, raise awareness of Internet and mobile effectiveness, and set up industry standards and benchmarks.

     

    The MMA has also announced the return of its two flagship events, MMA Forum India and the Smarties India Awards taking place on September 16, 2015.