AgTalk | India, an exciting market for any marketer: Eureka Mobile's Jayawant

Rahul Jayawant, the CEO and founder of Eureka Mobile Advertising founded Eureka Advertising as a disruptive force in the world of digital marketing, ushering in unique offerings for mobile subscribers and marketers. Founder's state that tearing up traditional, blind pricing models, Eureka's proprietary technology and advanced analytics assure subscriber engagement, accountability and transparency to marketers. Eureka is a seamless, non-intrusive experience for opt-in subscribers. The rewards they earn is the cherry on top!!

Adgully caught up with Rahul Jayawant CEO and Founder, Eureka Mobile Advertising to know his view point on the growing industry that he operates in, significant markets, growth plans and more.

Adgully (AG): Shed some light on Eureka Mobile Advertising and the establishment of the firm.

Rahul Jayawant (RJ): It was in 2005 when I had the idea of monetizing the idle screen on smartphones but the time wasn’t right then. Around 2012 mobile was the biggest buzz word in technology across the globe and I felt it was the right time to put the idea in action. This is when I got Yogesh Sholapurkar, Eureka’s Co-Founder on board. Yogesh brought on board another cartload of experience and together we built a team in the UK along with a development centre in India to execute the idea. Mobility evangelist Kevin Cunnington and advertising evangelist Ian Clark are part of the core team.

Eureka Mobile Advertising is a pioneering effort towards providing marketers solutions to engage with the subscribers more effectively. In the process we hope to share our success across the digital supply chain including rewards for the subscriber: share of the advertising revenue for the operator and lesser churn from a satisfied subscriber and last but not the least, provide a more effective channel for the advertiser with a promise to increase their ROI manifold.

AG: Brief us about the services that Eureka offers its clients.

RJ: Eureka Mobile advertising monetises the idle screen of the mobile phone to deliver marketing content in the form of images, billboard fashion on the idle mobile phone screen.  The image appears full screen as soon as the phone is unlocked and this can be either dismissed or engaged with a double tap. Eureka’s proprietary technology serves image advertisements to the mobile phone; this makes impressions measurable as it is guaranteed that the user will see the content or advertisement served to the phone. This enables transparency helping marketers and advertisers calculate their ROI effectively. The full screen graphic content conveys the brand image to the mobile phone users in such a way that the experience can be akin to what advertisers can deliver on a billboard but at the convenience of the subscriber and  in the privacy of their hand held device. Furthermore, Eureka is an opt-in service, which means that it is also served when the subscriber is desirous of it, and as such is non-intrusive.

AG: Being based in UK, and now with a launch in India, how has the journey / growth been for you?

RJ: The journey till now has exceeded expectations. The biggest testimony of this fact is that the Click Through Ratio (CTR)globally is 1% but in case of Eureka it is an average of 22% with the highest being  44% and the lowest standing at 10%.Since its launch, we have had 1, 10,000 downloads, with a download rate of 1500-2000 subscribers per day. It is listed as one of the top 5 apps in the Lifestyle section. The customer engagement ratio has been over 41%. The pilot launch took place in India in April 2013. Idea was the exclusive partner for the first 3 months, post which Eureka has become operator agnostic.

AG: Being a player in the mobile advertising industry, how according to you is the industry growing today? Share some current trends with us.

RJ: Newer revenue models are evolving, content is becoming more customized and personal, the ‘app economy’, is zooming up, Advertising will inevitably follow suit. According to an Avendus report, the Indian app market size is currently estimated to be around Rs. 150-200 crores, and as per an MMA report, powered by exchange4media, the mobile ad spend figure in India in 2013 is expected to be Rs. 300crore. Mobile ad spends are slated to grow over 43 per cent to reach Rs. 430 crore in 2014. As the smartphone becomes more central to our lives, digital and mobile advertising spends are expected to grow in tandem.

AG: What was the rationale behind launching the product in India?

RJ: India is clearly rising as a mobile savvy market and interesting apps are changing the dynamics of Indian mobile consumer behaviour. As per leading analysts the mobile advertising market in India is expected to reach about USD 100 million, growing 20 fold in 5 years. Thus, India for us as a market is important. The key reason for us to do the pilot in India was the omnipresence of mobiles, a young population and the advent of affordable smart phones. This makes India an exciting market for any marketer and made sense for us.

With over 50% of Internet access being attributed to mobiles; this will get a further boost with the advent of 3G and 4G services and lead to a huge impetus to e-commerce and Gaming on the mobile. We feel with our unique offering that includes precision targeting and a robust analytics engine, provides a tremendous opportunity for marketers to reach their TG with a great ROI.

AG: What according to you is the USP and strength of Eureka Mobile Advertising?

RJ: Eureka Mobile Advertising is the first company in the world to reward subscribers for viewing ads. We believe that this is a unique concept that may be a game changer in the mobile advertising industry and could define future trends in the sector. It is a win-win situation for all stakeholders involved. Typically, the digital supply chain comprises the advertiser, the agency, ad serving platforms, the telco’s and the subscriber. The prima donnas of this digital supply chain are undoubtedly the advertiser and the subscriber. Success in this space will be determined by delighting the subscriber with a non-intrusive, seamless experience which rewards them with relevant content when and where they need it. Similarly, the marketer would be willing to pay substantial premiums provided they are able to reach their TG and get useful analytics for a better ROI. 

AG: How is the international market responding to your service?

RJ: We are currently present in India and have plans of expanding to UK and APAC in the next quarter.  Given our successful stint in India, we are highly optimistic of receiving a positive response in the international markets as well.

AG: What are your short term and long term plan?


RJ: We are already in the process of achieving our short terms goals. As far as India is concerned, we launched an update to the app in October this year. We have also just launched our Referral Program for subscribers and hope to launch the Loyalty Program towards the end of the year. It will provide a larger canvas of options for our subscribers to monetize, beyond talk time and data packs.

Our long term goal is to expand to other markets in the world. We are launching Eureka in UK and APAC in the next quarter. Our core target for 2014 is to reach a subscriber base of half a million users. Everything else will follow this goal. Considering the rate at which smartphones are becoming affordable and the massive uptake which is evident from the annual shipments--expected to be 1 billion this year, we feel there is a substantial global market for this service and the various avatars that will follow.

AG: What kind of challenges have you been facing in the industry?

RJ: Considering the pioneering nature of our offering there are no bench-marks for the marketers to compare with the Eureka Solution. We thus went through an elaborate exercise to explain the Eureka Value to the leadership across the Agencies, the CMO community and the Business leadership. We had to hire an experienced team adept at value selling. They have done a marvellous job and now some of the largest agencies both media and creative are appreciating the unique value and exceptional ROI that we are able to provide their customers. Many clients are now throwing up use cases that are unique to the mobile advertising industry and that could enhance the user experience and create a new standard in mobile advertising.

AG: Who would you say are your major competitors? What is your edge over competition?

RJ: As mentioned earlier, Eureka Mobile Advertising is the first company in the world to come up with such a unique mobile advertising solution. Considering the enthusiastic response from the marketers, we are extremely bullish of the future and excited with the possibilities. So far we have had a head start but are not complacent and aware competition is bound to appear on the horizons sooner than later.

AG: What are the brands that you are working with?

RJ: We have had a few leading global brands use the Eureka Platform including Coke, Dominos and Kotak Bank. We are the co-sponsors of the largest youth festival in Asia - MOOD INDIGO. Many leading brands across the spectrum have lined up to reach out on the Eureka Platform focused on the young and upward mobile.

Jayawant is an IIT alumnus and obtained his Bachelor’s degree from IIT Varanasi. He also has a Marketing Management degree from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management. Jayawant is an accomplished professional with over 25 years of experience in creating new businesses for global technology and consulting conglomerates.

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