Preethi J.

On average, an Indian mobile user gets six SMSs and sends four a day. Brands are taking advantage of this to reach customers in newer ways.

IT sits pretty in your pocket, buzzing with information on new deals and offers. It's one of the latest media the advertising industry has hit upon a quick and easy way to reach consumers. The short messaging service (SMS) on your mobile phone offers advertisers a simple method of reaching millions.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of mobile users at end-November 2005 stood at a little over 7 crore. The Indian advertising industry itself is worth over Rs 13,000 crore. Of this, SMS marketing is pegged at around Rs 1 crore, but is growing at a scorching rate. Telecom companies such as Bharti Televentures, Spice Telecom and Tata Telecom have jumped right into this mission. Around 60 per cent of their revenue from the text messaging service comes from SMS advertising, say industry experts. The telecom industry can reap benefits from SMS marketing as long as text messaging remains the number one data service available across societies, they say.

According to a survey by Swedish mobile communications company SmartTrust, messaging services and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) have become hugely important to operators keen to raise average revenue per user.

Short codes

Cellular service providers offer short codes, made up of four-digit numbers. Short codes can be used for voting, polling, contests, surveys and direct marketing. They direct responses from mobile users to a database at the telecom operators' end, which is then analysed. The data sourced from short codes can be used to track spending patterns. Individual tastes as well as the needs of millions of users can then be determined.

SMS marketing offers real-time information about the target base, is personalised, accurate and quantifiable. It is also location-sensitive, hence advertisers can evaluate demographic charts. "Mobiles enable a marketer to reach out to a niche audience and deliver results in shortened time frames and quicker response times. Marketers who have used it are aware of its competitive advantage, available literally at the push of a button and have insisted on integrating the 4-digit short codes consistently across all campaigns," says Preeti Desai, President, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI). Currently, short codes allow mobile users to download ringtones and picture messages and even participate in tele-voting. Even at Rs 6-10 per ringtone, there are many takers. "We see around 80,000 downloads a month," says Parthasarathy Madhukar, Head of Post-Paid and Value Added Services, Spice Telecom. Per month, this company earns Rs 8 lakh-9 lakh just from short codes.

Tele-voting applications have also successfully combined the reach of the TV and mobile to enable an interactive medium. Talent hunt shows such as Indian Idol have evoked a good response. Each short code attracts around two lakh SMSs per month. The Indian Idol series received around 5.5 crore SMSs per day.

Enterprise branding

A new trend in this domain is the use of short codes by enterprises. Banking, insurance firms and airlines use this service to engage new customers. Companies are also attempting to market new products, such as a new credit card. The output of these trials is not up to the mark, though. "This does not get as good a response as entertainment-driven SMS marketing as it is need-based," says Spice's Madhukar.

While Bollywood and TV channels have popularised the use of short codes, new players such as consumer durables and FMCG companies are also getting into SMS advertising. Mobile marketing, according to IMAI's Desai, increases return on investment of all marketing campaigns when integrated with print, radio, television and promotional marketing.

Personal, private

As mobile phones form an integral part of consumers' lives, ads can also be personalised. They also reach out to customers advertisers find hard to contact. "The cell phone is a personal agent, a hotline to our customers. With mobiles, we can reach them 24x7," says C. V. S. Sharma, Country Head, Tribal DDB India, a Mumbai-based ad agency that specialises in new media. The ad industry is also facing a hurdle - many mobile users do not appreciate push-based SMS marketing. "Most feel it is an intrusion into their privacy," says Sharma. The challenge is to ensure that the advertisers make the SMS more engaging.

According to a study conducted by Lintas Media Services, 66 per cent of Indian youth were willing to accept advertising through SMS on their cell phones.

Says R. Lakshminarayanan, Chief Executive Officer, Mudra's Total Branding Solutions, "Any form of promotion involving a scratch card or a contest form excites the consumers; there is also a greater inclination to participate using interactive media, namely, SMS and e-mail."

Future

While SMS, or text messaging, is currently used in conjunction with other media, such as TV, radio or the Internet, the setting up of 3G networks will make the mobile phone a complete tool for marketers. Industry sources predict that wireless advertising will go mainstream only the next year. That will see the advent of location-based services, paid downloads over wireless broadband and mobile discount coupons. Location-based services will inform mobile users about sales or events happening in the vicinity. Users will be able to download e-books or videos over mobile broadband, and pay for it through m-banking. Brand exercises will include discount coupons sent over telecom networks in the form of M-coupons.

"M-coupons are all set to hit Indian cities early next year," says Tribal's Sharma. So that offer on a pizza may no longer reveal itself through pesky pamphlets floating out of the newspaper but turn into another beep on your mobile phone.

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