Indian Millennials Talk Mobile Advertising Attitudes
The virtual round table of podcast interviews with millennials continues with a look at the Indian market for mobile advertising. With 525 million mobile subscriptions and rising, India is the world’s second largest mobile market after China. Since the majority of Indians don’t have access to a PC, so mobile is the only screen for content, advertising and communications of all kinds.
India is a market poised for exciting growth in mobile marketing, as this insider mobile marketing guide from our friends at mobiThinking shows. India was also the showcase for the World Brand Congress, a prestigious event that brings together the marketing leaders and industry thinkers behind some of the world’s most successful and sought-after brands.
Optism, the Alcatel-Lucent permission-based mobile marketing solution, was recognized for its role. Optism’s Thomas Labarthe received the 2010 award for Brand Leadership.
Staying with India, we kick off another in our ongoing series of global virtual round tables with millennials. In this first of our two-part series we learn what three digital youths – Minaketan Parida (24), Shagun Talwar (20) and Manikaran Singh (20) really think about their mobile phones and mobile advertising.
Personal mobility
The millennials are (predictably) passionate about their mobile lifestyles. While Shagun may use her mobile to connect with friends and family, and receive alerts about her next dance class, the guys in the group are more focused on utility than communication. Minaketan, for example, surfs the Web on his phone as a hobby and pastime.And Manikaren “loves” his phone, a Blackberry Bold that allows him to connect using email, BB messenger or text.
Mobile advertising attitudes
Shagun thinks of mobile advertising as a source of information. She learns about her favorite clothes brands and therefore thinks mobile advertising is a “good thing.” But there are limits. For example, Shagun complains that she receives property ads, useless advertising that she finds irritating. “I’m not closed to receiving advertising on SMS on my phone. But when I receive SMS after SMS that are of no use to me, then it gets really annoying.” She would prefer a tool of some kind that would allow her to “opt to receive” advertisements aligned with her interests.
Manikaren has a similar gripe. He wants an app or some method that would allow him to receive ads about what interests him most. Cars, for example, are top of his list. He doesn’t want life insurance ads – but he gets them just the same. As he puts it: “I’m 20 years old and I’m getting life insurance [ads] and that’s no use! The people who are calling us don’t even know who we are and they’re sending us messages.” Now that’s an observation that should send a clear message to brands everywhere: know your customer – especially on mobile. Notably, Manikaren is a big fan of Vodafone advertising – so a clear confirmation that mobile operators can use mobile to speak with their customers. It’s such a natural fit that you have to wonder why so few mobile operators use it effectively.
Minaketan would accept advertising – but he has definite ideas about the modus operandi brands and operators should adopt. As he puts it: “Advertising should be in our control and not under the control of the service providers and other vendors.” He is the most adamant about the need for an app that would allow people to interact with brands on their terms. His vision: an app that allows people to connect with brands they like and search the news and offers connected with the advertiser.
Interestingly, I probed the idea of an advertising permission and preferences app with the group and found that they want a way to opt in and control the ads they see (aligned with their interests, for example), but the mechanism doesn’t have to be an app at all. A text message – or a dialogue that starts with a text message would achieve the same objectives.
In fact, Shagun said that SMS would “work just fine” for her. In her view, it would be like using an app – because she could answer back with her interests (check of categories in a list and text them back to the operator, for example) – but it would be easier because she wouldn’t have to go back and check the app or update it. It would be up to the operator or advertiser to keep in touch.
Next week: we explore the conditions under which these millennials are willing to receive advertising and the incentives they find most exciting. No surprise that brand information and cool stuff only the in-crowd can know is an incentive that would move all three to receive mobile advertising on their phones.
My take:
Our Indian Millennials are open to receiving mobile advertising on their mobile phones provided they have some level of control over the type of advertising they get and how often they get it. An interesting twist: we started out talking about the need for an app on the phone that would allow people to set up profiles for the kinds of advertising they get. However, after we explored this in some more detail, it also turned out that an SMS conversation would also be a great way to gather information on interests and ensure the individual is always in control of their advertising. Connect the dots, and these millennials want a say in their advertising and would welcome a permission-based mobile marketing approach that puts them in control.
Listen to the podcast. [14:41]
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Editor’s note: Thanks again for your positive feedback on this series and all the RTs! You can follow us on Twitter — @msearchgroove or @Optism.
Disclaimer: Optism is an MSG client and supporter. To identify these millennials I tapped the resources of the Global Youth Lab, an innovative primary research program managed by Alcatel-Lucent. Its ongoing and global research looks to understand how users (teens to adults) around the world experience marketing across all the screens they use (mobile phones, televisions, computers). I developed the questions, conducted the interview and look forward to working with the researchers as I organize virtual roundtables around the world.
