Mobile tsunami set to hit Indian advertisers

Initially, it used to be a phone call. A Magic Bricks executive will remind you that your house ad will expire soon. You were requested to visit the magicbricks.com website, and renew your subscription.

Then, came the e-mails, where Magic Bricks inserted a hyperlink for you to click, and renew your subscription. The website also sent you SMS messages, with hyperlinks.

Now Magic Bricks has changed gears. It was a pleasant surprise when my phone rang yesterday, and a recorded voice informed that my subscription was up for renewal.

I was given the option to renew my free subscription by entering the numeral 1. On doing so, the recorded voice confirmed that my subscription has been renewed.

The entire process was simple, easy and quick. It was my first experience with an innovative mobile ad. The ad opens a new window for advertisers. You have to think differently if you want the mobile media to deliver results.

The era of traditional banner ads that were created for the desktop, and pushed onto laptops and tablets, is over. You have to think differently if you have to succeed.

Also, you should not wait for the western world to find solutions. The latest Ericsson Mobility report states that India added 21 million mobile subscribers in the first quarter of 2016. This was the highest in the world for that quarter. The second highest was Myanmar, which added 5 million subscribers.

This is not all. The Ericsson report visualises an explosion in the use of smartphones. The number of Smartphones, according to the report, will quadruple from 210 million in 2015 to 810 million by 2021. In the same period, mobile traffic will zoom from 0.3 ExaBytes a month to 4.5 ExaBytes per month.

Mobile tsunami

Chart courtesy: Ericsson Mobility report

Another report that should ring urgency bells is that of Zenithoptimedia. According to the Zenith’s latest Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, “Mobile will overtake desktop (in the world) to become the primary internet advertising medium in 2017, a year earlier than previously forecast.”

What is even more interesting is the way countries are gearing up to meet the mobile challenge. According to Zenith forecasts, “China is the leading mobile advertising market, pioneering the developments that will later spread around the world.”

The second most advanced mobile advertising market is the UK. The two nations – China and UK – are the only two markets in the world where mobile accounts for more than 50% of Internet advertising.

The Indian mobile advertiser therefore does not have the luxury to wait. Mobile usage is like a giant tsunami. It will sweep away all forms of communication. The survivors will be the ones who will create new forms of advertising.

Are you one of them? Have you come across any new form of mobile advertising? If yes, please share your experience in the Comments section.

About Sunil Saxena 326 Articles
Sunil Saxena is an award winning media professional with over four decades of experience in New Media, Social Media, Mobile Journalism, Print Journalism, Media Education and Research.

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