A WORLD OF MOBILE BRANDS - IS IT POSSIBLE?
A WORLD OF MOBILE BRANDS - IS IT POSSIBLE?
Tuesday, 12 January 2010 08:40
The advent of new media channels has been surrounded by a lot of ‘hype’ in East Africa and the world over. And in this sea of optimism, the branded world has not been left behind. But how can African brands effectively capitalize on the opportunities presented by these media and turn all this hype into a beautiful thing called ‘increased revenues’?
One of the new media with a ‘head-start’ in the race to awe African brands in the coming years is the mobile phone. By virtue of the sheer numbers that are perpetually splashed all over the local dailies, African enterprises have been given a doorway to ‘grab the mobile phone by the balls’ and use it to make their brands so phenomenal that they almost become relics in the eyes of consumers.
The key for brands to fully exploit the mobile space lies in three crucial areas of caution:
1. Consumer Privacy
2. Synergy with overall brand strategies
3. Integration with traditional media
1. Consumer Privacy
No reputable brand envisages a brand experience that leaves the consumer in a state of disgust with that one dreadful question – “Why are these guys such a nuisance?”. Due to relatively weak legislation (More so in Africa) relating to consumer privacy in the advertising space, brands must take the bull by the horns and exploit the mobile space in a way that guarantees a ‘healthy’ relationship with the consumer. Let the consumer opt-in for that mobile brand experience, protect their information and everybody is happy.
Many brands understand the need to ensure consumer privacy when using new media such as the mobile phone. This is the make or break factor behind the mobile phone or any other personal media channel. If the opposite is done, we will just have a severe case of mobile spam on our plate and the results of mobile marketing to African brands will deem the channel useless and invaluable to brand strategy.
2. Synergy with overall brand strategy
Every worthwhile brand has clearly defined objectives to be met in brand communications. Brand strategy directly supports business strategy that for many organizations focuses on ‘making cheddar’.
So when brands decide to explore the mobile space as an effective marketing tool, it all boils down to the bricks and mortar of the brand – “What do we want to communicate and how can we use this medium to do so?”. This question may not be as tricky to answer when dealing with traditional media that is tried and tested, but when it comes to the mobile space; our African brands must create mobile marketing strategies that spell out how ‘brand mobility’ will be integrated to and benefit their overall brand strategy.
3. Integration with traditional media
The advent of the mobile space and other new media channels in the world of branding does not in any way present the demise of traditional media – we have a beautiful thing called ‘integrated marketing’. Reputable brands know this all too well and we have had a glimpse of the power that traditional marketing has in driving effective mobile brand experiences in Africa. Various brands in the East African region have launched ‘SMS to win promotions’ that have proved to highly boost brand loyalty as well as brand equity for these brands. This would obviously not have been possible without the integration of traditional media to drive these mobile brand experiences.
In a nutshell, the mobile phone has proven to be a useful tool in many areas of life and business. Brands should not be left behind in embracing it and should add the mobile medium to their panoply of weapons in the war of the brands. Some brands are catching on but with all the mobile branding options available, we are yet to see how powerful this medium can be to African brands.
Written by Edwin Seno, Managing Director, OTB Africa Limited
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