Why do some mobile operators suck big time?

Hello folks,

It’s weekend time and as usual I checked out the feeds in my mailbox. One article stood out from the rest and caught my attention more than anything else.

Just when I thought mobile advertisers and operators will be more careful in the future to avoid unfortunate incidents like the China Mobile and Focus Media problem, I stumbled on to this news. Honestly, I was annoyed big time. Let me explain.

SingTel, a very famous mobile operator in Singapore, has the habit of sending mobile ads to its subscribers. What’s the big deal, you ask me? Well; here, the customers only have the option to opt out of the ads, not to opt in. Confused? Let me explain further.

With a mobile connection from SingTel, you automatically get ads on your mobile phone. You can’t do a damn thing about it. In other words, there is no opt-in option for people so that only those who want ads can opt in and those who don’t want can simply stay out. In this case, the operator only gives you the choice to opt out any time you want. In other words, you’ll get ads on your mobile phone whether you like it or not. If you don’t like it, it’s your duty to opt out of it.

Seriously, I cannot think of a better way to annoy the hell out of customers. But then, this has been a trend in some third world countries for quite some time now, and I know it better than anyone else. Airtel, the leading mobile operator in India, has been accused of sending unsolicited text message ads and marketing calls time and again in the past. Again, it’s the duty of the customer to opt out of these ads if he doesn’t want them.

This is plain stupid and someone needs to do something about it. At the end of the day, no matter how good your mobile ads are, there are still some people who prefer to stay out of them. And you have no rights whatsoever to poke your nose into their mobile phone. Like I’ve mentioned time and again, mobile advertising will be a success only if you respect the privacy of consumers and give them a choice to choose what they want and what they don’t want. Hope the powers-that-be realize this sooner than later.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.

1 comment.

Mobicom and Qkey Holdings to launch a unique interactive advertising platform

Mobicom Corp. has joined hands with Qkey Holdings, a digital marketing platform developer. Qkey Holdings has a unique platform which has generated a lot of buzz in the market. In fact, this particular platform is probably the reason why Mobicom signed a joint venture agreement with Qkey Holdings.

So, what’s so special about this platform? It changes an outdoor advertisement like billboard into a mobile based one. Qkey platform has an interactive advertising technology which enables the user to access the outdoor billboard ad through his mobile phone and get the information he wants downloaded in his mobile phone or in his email.

This process takes the revolutionary step of connecting two different forms of advertising – outdoor advertising and mobile phone advertising. Mobicom Corp. is pretty upbeat about this joint venture and thinks this will get a good response from people.

Mobicom is planning to launch this platform first in Asia and has plans to launch it in other markets depending on the response they get from the Asian market. South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, China, and Malaysia are the countries they’ve decided to launch this platform in.

The reason behind Mobicom’s decision to launch the platform first in Asia is very simple. In China, 17% of the total amount spent on advertising goes to outdoor advertising like billboards whereas in the U.S., only around 4% goes to outdoor advertising. So, the response for the platform will be obviously better in the Asian markets.

I think the platform will be a success in the Asian market. The real test though would be in the American and European markets where this kind of advertising is not as popular as it is in Asia.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.

YuuZoo enters mobile advertising with a bang

YuuZoo, a popular name in the world of mobile content and mobile advertising, has moved from its beta phase and will soon start rendering its services to a number of countries including China, India, US, UK, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

In case you don’t know YuuZoo, here’s a small piece of info. YuuZoo is backed and financed by a number of high profile executives from Nokia, Ogilvy & Mather, and Ericsson and is famous world over.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of YuuZoo is the extensive range of mobile content it has on offer. It has partnered with some of the best mobile technology companies in the world and offers a wide range of mobile content, most of which are exclusive.

With the current set up, YuuZoo can easily reach around 1 billion consumers around the world. What this means to mobile advertisers around the world is that they can now easily target a huge number of consumers with the help of YuuZoo. With its technology, YuuZoo can help mobile advertisers send highly targeted ads to consumers – both local and international.

It will be interesting to see the growth of YuuZoo in the coming months. With such a strong set up, I think it is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the mobile advertising industry.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.