Having spent the last 4 days in Singapore it’s hard not to be excited by the opportunity that this exciting region presents to operators, brands and most importantly the Asian population. Singapore is still a growing city – both structurally as cranes religiously build out immense cathedrals of commerce as well as physically as the government moves to grow the population by a million in the next 10 years. Everyone I spoke to commented that the government always delivers on its own objectives. Having seen the city close up – I have no doubt of that.
I was attending CommunicAsia 2010 – a monster conference and exhibition designed to bring together broadcasters, operators, media agencies and technology businesses all with an interest to share and learn from each other and, of course, to sell to each other.
I was sharing a platform with a number of mobile luminaries including Michael Becker, President of MMA USA, and Russell Buckley, VP, Global Alliances of Admob – soon to be Googlemob no doubt. Thanks to Rohit Dadwal who leads the MMA in Asia and who ably chaired the day which was wholly focused on Mobile marketing. The highlight talk of the afternoon session was a great insight into the thinking of a top tier media planning business delivered by Shashank Tripathi of Publicis giant Starcom MediaVest. He presented a very clear opportunity slide but also set the challenge to the mobile solution sellers about how to ensure their own business made it to the final buying plan. We should all take note.
The story from most was a simple one – In Asia the phone beats the pc – by a factor of 4 to 1 and the result is a marketing channel that can be personalised, private and welcomed by consumers. Now those that have followed Blyk will be aware that this theme is something we have proven in the UK and will do so in Netherlands and India too by year end. Ads are great if they are contextually relevant on a 1-1 basis.
Young consumers today continually prove that they are open to have communications with brands. We have all witnessed brand creep into social networking. Indeed gazillions of blog sites alongside Facebook, MySpace and their global cousins are full of companies trying to get into our lives through building conversations, fan groups and discussion forums. [* As an aside become a master of ‘social network marketing’ and you are sure to have a fat pay packet month after month for the next 10 years.]
But equally consumers are smart – sure, they are open for dialogue with your brand but be afraid if you step over the mark and misplace their trust.
And that’s the point.
All relationships require trust if they are to be genuine and long term. We tell our children to be honest in order to build this foundation of trust. Though shall not lie – this aspect of basic human nature doesn’t stop at graduation – indeed it carries on throughout our lives from University, to first employer and on to marriage.
At Blyk we believe that starting from a point of transparency is key to building success – so we ask our members to tell us about themselves – a name, age, location, work status, education status and then as much as they want about what they like and what they don’t. Using this information we can ensure that any communication from us or from a brand is only served to those that have a match. We ensure we tell our members what the deal is upfront in plain text – We are open and honest about the service we offer and what we do with the information we collect. And it works.
Respecting the changing needs of consumers is equally important – it’s a fast world and we shouldn’t be surprised if what is ‘hot’ today is ‘not’ tomorrow. The mobile marketing world is full of armies of data analysts all tracking ‘historical’ activity through Wifi addresses, Mac codes and the content servers databases.
And that’s the second point.
Data is best fresh – so knowing the state of mind of a consumer at the point of exposure has to be the most effective way to market yourself doesn’t it? Fresh data gives you the best and most up to date picture of an individual – Sure the historical analysis can give you a core of knowledge but nothing beats a simple question to open up a dialogue. Messaging allows that which is why 25% will respond to a message but only 1% might click on your banner.
Finally lets take a moment to consider privacy – It is everyone’s individual right to set their own limits.
And that’s the third point.
Some people, like our dear friend Nalden in the Netherlands – is a digital native, a serial blogger and a man who likes to share most things with most people. Check his site out later. In setting his own privacy settings he is sending us a message he is open to the digital world. Open for conversation, open for invitation and open to all.
Others are way more private – choosing to stay in the digital shadows. And that is ok – respecting the individual privacy stands you in good stead to get engagement when these guys are open for a conversation. However most online companies digitally stalk this group via cookie tracking – we call it stealth marketing and for sure its a billion $ business globally. Its one way to do it, but not the best way.
And privacy is tomorrow’s currency. So to the companies freely distributing lists of mobile numbers your time is up – it’s no longer acceptable to buy, sell and then spam the digital community. When you are tempted please think of elephants. The digital native never forgets.
I am excited by South East Asia – by the places, the diverse individual cultures and the sheer scale of ambition present everywhere you turn. My father was right – it is the new land of opportunity but please keep it open, personal & private.
