AgTalk | Though a new media, mobile advertising is big: MMA's Dadwal

Gone are those days when advertising and marketing were restricted to traditional mediums like television, print and OOH. Mobile as we all know has evolved quite literally over the years. From being just a communication device used interpersonally, mobile as grown to one of the most preferred mediums of advertising and marketing today.

However, being one of the newest mediums in the industry, complete awareness and expertise is still not present among all the parties involved in the business. Hence, we see many associations / forums conducting learning sessions and discussions to better the knowledge for the same.

Presenting one such learning platform is Mobile Marketing Association where everyone from the industry shares their thoughts, idea and experiences so as to make the business work in a better manner. Adgully caught up with Rohit Dadwal, the Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Asia Pacific Limited.

Dadwal has extensive expertise in the economics of mobile, direct and digital marketing, consumer privacy and the government regulation of markets. A highly visible industry advocate with over 17 years of experience in the internet, digital and mobile spheres, he has been instrumental in the MMA’s growth in the region, forging relationships with industry leaders and key stakeholders, and positioning MMA as the authoritative global voice in the mobile marketing and advertising industry.

Dadwal spoke at length about the growth of mobile as one of the vital medium in advertising, his thoughts on Indian market and also more. Edited excerpts below:

Adgully (AG): ‘Mobile first’ has been the primary ingredient for today’s marketing strategies, as a domain expert in the mobile advertising industry what is your take on the same?
Rohit Dadwal (RD): I believe it is still happening; the brands and marketers are still in the understanding phase. Mobile as a medium is very different for very brand as compared to any other medium whether its TV, Radio, OOH etc. It encompasses every other media. Some of the brands (2 to 3 percent of all the brands in the world) have actually started using Mobile as a key priority in anything and everything that they do. Today Mobile as a medium does not need a marketing strategy but any brand’s marketing strategy needs Mobile other it is incomplete. Mobile First has started and brands are slowly realising the integrity of the medium.

AG: What according to you should be the two primary parameters the marketers should keep in mind while using mobile for advertising?
RD: Firstly, I think, a brand should consider whether/if mobile is core to its marketing strategy and what role would Mobile play viz-a-viz other mediums. Secondly, whatever a brand does on mobile it should be done keeping in mind the consumer’s benefits and not done just with a purpose of doing it.  Consumer led mobile strategy should be the core of the campaign.

AG: You have been instrumental in the MMA’s growth, how would like to elaborate on the same?
RD: It is a 5 year long journey now. We started off with 7 global members representing the APAC market and now we have close to 250 members. MMA is a global non-profit trade association comprised of more than 800 member companies, from nearly fifty countries around the world. Our members hail from every faction of the mobile marketing ecosystem including brand marketers, agencies, mobile technology platforms, media companies, operators and others. The MMA’s mission is to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile, driving business growth with closer and stronger consumer engagement.

AG: How have you seen the mobile advertising as a domain over the last decade and what is the growth potential of this media in the market?
RG: The medium has undoubtedly grown tremendously over the years and will one of the top 3 mediums from the 8th medium today, going further down the line in all the emerging and existing brands. Actually mobile as a business is a decade old but mobile advertising as an industry is just four to five years old hence it will take time for the medium and the users to settle down. Also today marketers compare Mobile advertising with mediums like TV, Print and Radio which 50 to 100 years old industries. Mobile advertising industry is expected to be a 30 billion dollar industry but we expect it to be a 44 billion dollar industry in the next year which is just 10% of overall advertising spends in the world. And reaching to something like this in just 4 years shows the medium’s momentum and evolution. 

AG: We have been hearing that India has been one of the fastest growing markets for mobile and digital, what is your thought on the same and apart from India which other markets have set benchmarks in the mentioned spaces.
RD: Undoubtedly India is the fastest growing market but we should look at markets like China, Indonesia and Brazil. I was told that China is a 500 million mobile and advertising market which is 40 times more than India. Advertising industry itself is big in China and we need to learn quite a few things from that market.

AG: As we all know mass consumers in smaller towns still use mobile phones as talking device, what do you think are the challenges for marketers to communicate their ideas with this segment of population?
RD: There is no challenge. Voice can be used as an essential thing to communicate with consumers in those markets. For example, Kaan-khajura Station by Hindustan Unilever is one of the most popular initiatives and another example is if we look at the way BJP has used mobile as an essential part of their marketing and advertising. They localised to different languages and used mobile as a medium to cater to the need and demands of smaller towns. I feel these are not barriers but opportunities for brands and mobile is expected to redefine the dark media states. 

AG: What is your thought on the In-App advertising which is also one of the growing phenomenon in the mobile advertising space?  
RD: In-App advertising is one of the functions in advertising. With the advent of smart phones there are a lot of applications that have come to existence and are kind of helping the brands in terms of reaching out to the audience. What is really driving consumption is the virtual goods industry within applications. The feemium goods or paid goods are the ones which are driven quite literally. And I have heard that it is 80 million dollar market of virtual goods today which is quite bigger than some smaller countries’ economies. I personally feel, In-App advertising is also bound to grow and will grow. 

AG: In terms of ad-spends how would you react to mobile finally getting its due?
RD: Mobile has not got its due! It is still less than a percent in India and less than 9 percent in some of the developed markets in the world. The reason is simple that people taking their time to test, learn, use and then adapt to mobile advertising. Mobile advertising needs a lot of responsibility, technology and creativity. 

AG: Are Indian counterparts at par with global players when it comes to ad-spends in the mobile medium?
RD: No not really. Global brands are spending more money outside India. For example brands like HUL, Coke etc are exceptions. This is because the markets outside India are very big and matured.

AG: What kind of categories of clients/advertisers you think can benefit out of mobile as an advertising medium? Is it healthcare, insurance, broadcasters?
RD: I feel every industry segment can and benefit out of mobile advertising. Financial services, F&B services and Travel services are always the first ones to try and experimenting something new as there are tech-savvy and are the ones who are spending quite a lot in Mobile. 

Prior to taking charge of MMA’s APAC activities, Dadwal spent 9 years working with Microsoft where he served as the Director of Platform and Mobile Services and contributed to the growth of MMA as a Global and APAC board member. In the past, he has also worked with Bharti-British Telecom ISP services - India and with IPSII, an affiliate of VSNL, the largest internet service provider in India.

An enthusiastic evangelist of mobile marketing, Dadwal sits on the board of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and is an Advisor for the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) and IDBYTE. He also sits on numerous corporate advisory boards of MMA’s member companies.

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