Egypt Mobile Operator Mobinil Takes Wraps Off Permission-Based Mobile Advertising
Another news announcement today cements the pivotal importance of asking people for their permission and preferences in order to deliver them useful and relevant mobile marketing messages.
Mobinil, Egypt’s leading mobile operator, has entered into a strategic partnership that will see the operator offering Alcatel-Lucent’s Optism permission-based mobile marketing solution mobile marketing solution to its nearly 30 million customers. Mobinil will brand the opt-in mobile advertising offer, which is going live now after a soft launch in July.
During this period Mobinil teamed up with major brands, including Nokia and Adidas, to deliver campaigns to more than 200,000 customers who opted-in to the service. The campaigns, reported response rates as high as 35 percent, an outcome that Burga Hatipoglu, Adidas Marketing Manager in Egypt says was “way beyond expectations.” The campaign was timed to the opening of a new flagship store in Cairo.
Continuing my in-depth look at mobile marketing attitudes worldwide, I will be speaking with executives at Mobinil and agencies in the region to discuss events since the soft launch and deep dive into the campaign results.
Mobinil’s recent campaigns and key learnings will also be the topic of a Twinterview, a live discussion on Twitter (#optismQA) slated for Monday (December 6 at 4pm GMT/11 pm EST) moderated by my esteemed colleague Jonathan MacDonald. The 15-minute live event will also debate the future of permission-based mobile marketing. To lend your voice to this worthwhile discussion and ask questions just follow #optismQA and direct your questions to @jmacdonald.
Egyptian mobile advertising market dynamics
Mobinil’s move to offer opt-in mobile advertising is significant if we consider that not all players there have been so sensitive to people’s privacy and requirements. In fact, Hani Ramzi, Optism Director of Business Development, tells me spamming has been an issue in Egypt. I caught up with Hani, who is based in the region, to discuss Egyptian market size and dynamics and – more importantly – people’s overall attitudes towards mobile advertising.
Overall, Egyptian mobile penetration stands at almost 70 percent and “despite the huge potential for mobile marketing in Egypt, so far no one player has really delivered to the advertisers what they require to make it big,” Hani says. “In fact, advertisers are always telling us they require scale and having Mobinil immediately gives that scale.” In his view, the opt-in offer will deliver valuable inventory and move mobile marketing beyond the spam SMS, transforming it into a credible media.
Soft launch stats
Hani also shares observations and results from the soft launch phase during the summer. “We were always aware that Egypt would be a lucrative market … but we are pleasantly surprised to see how overwhelming and prompt the response from the brands and agencies.”
The Adidas campaign reached a 35 percent response rate. However, one campaign even reached 55 percent.
This is particularly significant since the Egyptian the market has been “quite over spammed,” with subscribers receiving spam SMS on their phones up to 10 times a day.
The introduction of permission-based marketing is a new experience for Egyptians – and has created more opportunities than brands anticipated, Hani says. “They’re [people] not bombarded; they’re engaged. And they are engaged by their mobile operator since the service is branded as a Mobinil service.”
How are people interacting with the marketing messages on their phone?
Hani says people “feel special” and welcome the relevant ads. “When they have to answer questions, they do it quite promptly. They do it on the spot. And they feel that this is very different and quite disruptive compared to any type of spam-based advertising they used to get.
Next for Mobinil
“Mobinil has big ambitions for mobile advertising and they have made no secret of it. The immediate next step is to continue to ramp up the opt-in numbers for the advertising service.”
Additionally, Optism will work closely with Mobinil to position the service, collect the opt-in, and refine the service drawing from experience and global consumer research Alcatel-Lucent has conducted to determine the best time of day to send the messages, for example.
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Editor’s note: You can also follow @Optism for their weekly pick of permission-based marketing in the news.
Disclaimer: Optism is an MSG client and supporter.
