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.

Greystripe and Simyo to offer free, ad supported mobile games

Greystripe is one company which sure knows the pulse of its customers. Ad supported mobile games are considered the next big thing and Greystripe is sure cashing in on that. First, it was the much-talked-about partnership with Myxer and now here comes another partnership with the German mobile operator, Simyo.

According to this deal, Greystripe will create a games portal which will have more than 800 free mobile games. Mobile users will be able to download them without paying a penny, as all the games are ad supported. Surprisingly, these games are not exclusively available for Simyo subscribers alone. Any mobile user from any mobile network can download these games. The reason is pretty simple.

Both Simyo and Greystripe will split the revenue generated from the targeted ads in those mobile games. So, it doesn’t matter who downloads the game – whether a Simyo subscriber or someone else – as long as the revenue comes in.

Also, one of the highlights of this mobile games portal is that it supports over 1400 handsets, which is a very good thing for mobile users. No matter what handset you have, you’ll be able to download these games. So, this will be pretty popular with users.

Btw, have you guys tried out any of these ad supported mobile games? What are your favorites?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Games.

1 comment.

Ad funded mobile phone service in the Philippines

A new mobile phone service, fully funded by advertisements, has been launched in the Philippines. The service is called U Mobile and it is targeted mainly toward young people.

This is the first-of-its-kind service in the Philippines, where more than 45% of the people are said to own mobile phones. This service is specifically targeted toward people from age 15 to 34 – popularly termed ‘the youth and yuppies’. The phone service is open for people only on an invitation only basis. You can use this service absolutely free of cost provided you’re willing to get that many ads in your mobile phone as specified by the service provider.

The company aims to get anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 subscribers within one year.

This company reminds me of Blyk, which has had phenomenal success so far. However, the success of this ad funded phone service depends on user response. If you remember, Blyk set a similar target of 100,000 subscribers in one year in the UK and reached it in just six months. It remains to be seen if this Filipino company can do so.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.

Blyk’s mobile advertising campaigns get great response

When I talk about mobile advertising being effective and all that jazz, I just mean one thing. That is the response rate. There are advertisements on TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, and the internet, but none of them has been as effective as ads on mobile phones. And to think that mobile advertising is still in its nascent stage!!!

Take for example, Blyk. Now, Blyk is a well-known name for regular readers of this blog, as I’ve talked about it quite a few times. Recently, Blyk reached the landmark of 100,000 subscribers in the U.K. in just six months after its start. Let’s take a look at some numbers here.

The average response rate of mobile advertising campaigns from Blyk is a whopping 29%. It is miles ahead of others in this aspect. Especially, for some ad campaigns, the response rate is just unbelievable. Some time back, Blyk did a promotional campaign for Nick Hornby’s novel Slam which was released by Penguin Books. The response rate was an astounding 69%. Can you even think of getting this kind of a response from newspaper ads or even online ads?

This is simply why I keep saying that when done well, a mobile advertising campaign could bring in phenomenal results. What say you?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Blyk.

0 comments.

The road ahead for mobile videos

There is a lot of talk about mobile video and how it could be the next big thing and so on. But there are two primary issues that stand in the way of mobile videos.

1. While watching videos might be a cool experience on Apple iPhone or a Nokia N95, it may not be so in a low-end mobile phone with a tiny little screen. Unfortunately, the number of high-end phones in the market is very low when compared to the number of low-end phones.

2. Most of the data plans available with carriers today are quite costly and a normal mobile user might think twice before going for a video plan, as it might add a substantial amount to his otherwise normal mobile bill.

Interestingly, mobile video has been popular in Asia and Europe. The reasons are not hard to find. High-end mobile phone penetration in the Asian market is high and data plans are not as costly as they are in the US. Also, carriers in Europe and Asia have been proactive in implementing a lot of ideas to encourage mobile advertising as it might boost their revenues. In fact, carriers in Europe have even gone to the extent of offering mobile phone porn, or simply mobile porn, to customers which has resulted in large number of customers opting for mobile video plans which offer porn content.

While I certainly don’t expect porn from carriers in the US, I do hope they do something to make mobile videos affordable for subscribers. Already, a large number of high-end mobile users don’t rely on their carriers for mobile videos, as they can access it easily on websites like YouTube, MySpace, and Mywaves, all of which are easily accessible from a high-end phone. So, carriers need to come up with affordable mobile video subscription plans to tap this market that can boost their revenue considerably.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.