Jan 14, 2011 by
Cathal O’Toole
in the theme Mobile
advertising: a market
on the move It is clear
that mobile advertising
is poised for
explosive growth in the
markets of the Middle
East and Africa. The
success factors for
mobile advertising
are a young and
fast-growing population,
rising income levels, and
rising mobile penetrations.
The markets across the
Middle East and Africa
have these
characteristics –
how will you take
advantage of this
opportunity? According to the Population Reference Bureau, nearly one
in five people living in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is
between the ages of 15 and 24 and the populations continue to grow.
According to the Population Division of the Department of Economic and
Social Affairs of the UN Secretariat, between 2010 and 2050, the
populations of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are expected to grow
by 58, 66, and 75 percent respectively and those of innovative and
advancing African countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya will
increase by 86, 83, and 109 percent.
The income levels across the regions are also growing fast. Average
annual GDP growth rates between 2000 and 2009 in Zambia, Nigeria,
and Uganda were 5.2, 6.1, and 7.2 percent respectively, which is
substantially greater than many Western economies. The UK's
comparative figure for the same period was 2.7 percent, according to
data from the World Bank.
The expanding young populations and rising incomes, coupled with the
slowing of many traditional Western markets, are driving brands and
their advertising agencies to focus on growing markets, which in the past
may have been neglected, to promote their products and services.
The continued growth in mobile penetrations, far in excess of fixed line
connectivity, make it an obvious channel on which to reach the new
consumers in these regions. In many markets the percentage
penetration almost doubled between 2007 and 2009. Indeed, the
relative power of mobile has meant greater take-up of mobile-centric
services, such as mobile banking, and greater variety in the use of
mobile in many of these emerging markets than in Western markets.
Powerful brands want and need to use mobile to promote their products
and to reach the growing numbers of young, mobile-savvy consumers.
Mobile presents a broad range of tools that allow the promotion to be
delivered in the right way, to the right customer, at the right time.
Whether it is offering simple text message advertising to reach every
consumer no matter how remote their location, engaging audio
endorsement marketing on a Ringback Tone to make the brand
personal, or rich-media on-device applications aimed at the high-spend
professional, mobile has the tool to match every promotional need.
Right now, brands want to use mobile in three ways in these emerging
markets. First, they want to use the power of simple messaging
interaction to complement their promotional activities via out-of-home,
TV, print, and on-pack promotions by facilitating easy and engaging text-
ins and dialogues. Second, they want to deliver greater amounts of
digital display advertising to the rising numbers of mobile internet users.
Third, they want to take advantage of the rising numbers of
smartphones to deliver media-rich and powerful on-device advertising
and idle screen promotions that respond to user activity. As the brands
become more familiar with the mobile channel, they will deliver
advertising on mobile services that are popular in many markets across
the Middle East and Africa such as Ringback Tone and Voice SMS.
Mobile can make all of this happen today.
As for the future, it is bright. As the markets continue to grow in size and
wealth and as consumers increasingly work and play on their mobile,
more and more of brands' spend will be directed to mobile advertising in
emerging markets and mobile will continue to extend the variety of ways
in which the brand can reach the consumer – wherever he or she is.
