10 Media 14 January 2010
MEDIA 4
Will 2010 prove to be the year of the mobile?
OFF THE FENCE NETWORK CEO
The mobile marketing
industry made strides
in 2009. But will a rise
in mobile internet
users translate to an
increase in confidence
among marketers?
Joshua Maa
Founder and CEO, Madhouse
“We believe that 2010 will be an im-
portant year for mobile marketing
in China for several reasons. First,
the presence of three carriers has
increased competition in China’s
telecommunications industry, par-
ticularly in the the mobile internet
arena where fee reduction for mo-
bile data connection has attracted
millions of users. Secondly, 3G has
become a key sell-
ing point for carri-
ers and handset
manufacturers.
YES
3G-related marketing has encour-
aged far more mobile internet
users.Thirdly, many large websites
have begun to actively promote
mobile internet sites and services.
In 2009, we witnessed — aside
from the existing mobile-focused
players (Kong, 3G.cn, Tx.cn) and
larger internet-based players in the
mobile arena (Google,Baidu,Sina)
— the successful release of mobile
versions of sites by others such as
Ren Ren, Kaixin, Youku and
Tudou.A Madhouse study showed
that, out of the 100 most visited in-
ternet sites, 80 already had mobile
internet versions and most had ap-
plications. Beyond mobile market-
ing’s known advantages of refined
and trackable targeting, we expect
the medium to reach up to 300 mil-
lion users this year.”
Research shows Malaysian Chinese are a top target
Among Malaysia’s ethnic Chi-
VITAL STATISTICS nese population, newspaper
readership remains high and
plays a very important role,
Marketers in Malaysia
ahead of radio listernship and
should consider challenging television viewing.
Research from Synovate reveals
Chinese-language that a total of 2.9 million
Malaysian Chinese from a total
newspapers to attract Chinese population of 4.1 million
those with higher say they read a daily newspaper,
compared to 2.32 million who lis-
household incomes tened to the radio on the previous
day and 3.39 million who watched
terrestrial TV.
A large portion of this Chinese
market (2.5 million) reads only
Chinese-language newspapers.
Looking more closely at the types
of newspapers, readership of Chi-
nese dailies is four times higher
NETWORK VP
Emmanuel Allix
VP and MD Apac, InMobi
“Mobile advertising has been pre-
dicted to come of age for over two
years now with no tangible results.
But, at the risk of sounding like a
broken record, I do believe 2010
will be the year of mobile advertis-
ing. Last year saw iPhone fever
catch on and make a significant im-
pact on the US mobile market. In-
ternationally, Smartphone adop-
tion has been
exploding to new
levels, showing
that the world is
YES
set with very capable handsets.
Google’s entry into the market has
now validated the importance and
potential of mobile advertising.All
this has created the perfect envi-
ronment for a big impact that will
be witnessed in the coming year.
Mobile applications have also
made their mark, with developers
being able to build and earn from
their applications.
Apple, on the one hand, is encour-
aging mCommerce and hence en-
abling developers to make more
from their apps. Phones like An-
droid,on the other hand,are platform
agnostic, creating a host of opportu-
nities for application developers.
User experience on the phones is im-
proving and so advertisements are
following suit. This provides a great
opportunity for brands.”
than readership of English dailies.,
with 620,000 reading an English-
language daily and less than 80,000
reading a Malay equivalent.
The segment of the Malaysian
population who read only Chi-
nese-language newspapers enjoy
a significantly higher average
monthly household income than
the average Malaysian (RM 3,647
— US$1080 — versus RM 2,768),
making them an ideal target group
for many brands.
Findings also reveal more Chi-
nese male readers than female
readers for Chinese dailies (53.6
per cent versus 46.4 per cent).
In terms of age, the highest level
of newspaper readership in the
country is seen in the 15 to 24 year-
old demographic.
“Any increase in competition
is a good thing for consumers”
G StarHub might beg to differ, page 11
MOBILE AGENCY CHIEF DIGITAL HEAD
Alexandre Mars Paul Roebuck
Founder and CEO, Phonevalley CEO, BBDO Guerrero, Proximity
Phillipines
“From the perspective of an adver-
tiser or marketer,the question is no “There have been genuine devel-
longer whether the year to come opments in 2009 that mean we will
will be the year of mobile.Mobile is see greater experimentation by
already a tangible reality of the dig- brands in the mobile channel in
ital mix and has proved its ability to 2010, but there are not yet proven
engage consumers, drive aware- success models that can persuade
ness and raise revenues. The ques- marketers to invest significantly in
tion now is: which are the best mo- big mobile marketing campaigns.
bile strategies to support brands’ Recently we have seen Nokia open
marketing objec- its operating system
tives in 2010?
With nearly three
billion application
YES to third party devel-
opers. As the
world’s largest
NO
downloads to date and an average handset manufacturer, this is note-
1.5 hours spent on applications daily, worthy.But we are only beginning to
the iPhone undoubtedly already ap- scratch the surface of how we can
peals to consumers. And it plays a leverage this to engage consumers.
great role in leading marketers The steady roll-out of Wimax
across the world to consider new technology will also introduce the
possibilities for the mobile media. possibility for richer mobile expe-
I predict that the coming year riences.But again,we are still in the
will see a breakthrough in mobile infancy of understanding how this
payments. We will see mobile might benefit marketers.
phones starting to be used as Networks may no longer be the
modes of payment,which will ulti- key media channels delivering
mately lead to them standing in branded messages. They are now
for credit cards, cheques and focusing more on maximising data
other payment options. Con- subscription revenue from en-
sumers will be able to use their hanced capability like Wimax and
mobiles as a safe and secure mode engaging consumers with brands
of payment.While this is definite- through third party applications.
ly an achievement which will need As agencies, our focus has to be on
a couple of years to become a real- persuading consumers to truly en-
ity, the coming year will see the gage on mobile – and branded utili-
first steps taken in this direction.” ty could prove the best solution.”
Chinese
Total media consumption among Malaysian Chinese
3,500
3,000 2,904
3,115
3,398
AIR Yesterday
newspapers in
Malaysia
I 3.1 million
2,500 2,324
’000 individuals
2,000 1,750 Chinese Malaysians
1,500 from a total of 4 . 1
1,000 m i l l i o n read a
500
689
weekly newspaper
0
Newspapers Newspapers Magazines Terrestrial
(daily) (weekly) TV
Astro
TV
Radio
I Those who do
Malaysian Chinese newspaper readership by age
earn on average 3 2
p e r c e n t more
25 24.2
than the average
19.7
20
16.7
Malaysian
15.9
15
15.2
% I O n e q u a r t e r of
10 8.3
Chinese-language
5 newspaper readers
0 are in the 1 5 - 2 4
15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 Above 64 age bracket
Age segments
Source: Synovate