As mobile devices continue to evolve with new and powerful technologies, there are new and exciting opportunities for marketers to disrupt the traditional approaches to marketing. That is the thought behind ‘Deconstructing Mobile’ - the theme for this year’s Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Forum 2013, a premier event for marketers in Asia, to be held on September 4 and 5, 2013 at The Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon. The Smarties India 2013 Awards will be presented as part of the MMA Forum India 2013, organized in association with exchange4media.
The jury meet for the second edition of The Smarties India 2013 was held in Mumbai on August 27, 2013, to pick the best mobile marketing campaigns across 20 categories in mobile strategy. Started last year in India, The Smarties is in its ninth year globally. Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association, Asia Pacific Limited, said the number of entries in India has increased exponentially. “This year, we have shortlisted around 70 entries for the jury to judge, which is not an easy task,” he added.
Jury Chairperson Hemant Bakshi, Executive Director, Home & Personal Care Business, Hindustan Unilever Limited, said, “Mobile is an incredible opportunity for marketers with a variable 700 to 800 million people having mobile phones in our country. Around 100 to 200 million consumers can be accessed only through mobile. So, it is a great opportunity to reach out to consumers which is otherwise difficult through traditional media.”
Jury member Yateesh Srivastav, COO of Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company, appreciated the fact that mobile as a medium is being taken seriously. “Great that it is getting treated as a medium and this is a welcome step in the right direction,” he said. For most marketers, mobile is now an integral part of the marketing campaigns and spends on mobile marketing seem to be on the rise. With the kind of reach and engagement it provides, marketers are putting on their thinking caps to tap the potential of mobile. Chandramouli Venkatesan, RCT Lead Chocolate Category, Asia Pacific, Cadbury, lists three main reasons for this: “Firstly, no other device has these many numbers. Secondly, opportunity to market on mobile is huge. People look out for their mobile phones as soon as they get some breathing time. And lastly, since it is a voluntary act, the stickiness is much higher.”
But how have Indian marketers fared on the mobile front compared to their Western counterparts? “I think we are doing something right as we have not focused only on youth or metros for the new medium. We have not been blind to the fact that even people from the lower socio-economic class or interiors of India are crucial.
Other markets should learn from us on how to use this medium in such a widespread manner,” said Jasmin Sohrabji, Chief Executive Officer, Omnicom Media Group, India.
With representation from across the mobile marketing landscape, including senior marketing executives of major brands, mobile specific and traditional agencies, operators, technology enablers and others, the MMA Forum India 2013 would be the best place to understand best practices in mobile marketing, connect and learn from experts and peers in the industry and hear first-hand future opportunities for marketing using the mobile channel.
The Jury
Jury Chair
Hemant Bakshi, Executive Director, Home & Personal Care Business, Hindustan Unilever Limited
Jury Members
Jasmin Sohrabji, Chief Executive Officer, Omnicom Media Group, India
V Chandramouli, RCT Lead Chocolate Category, Asia Pacific, Cadbury
Ajit Varghese, MD, Maxus South Asia, Maxus & Motivator India
Tushar Vyas, Managing Partner, Groupm South Asia
Yateesh Srivastava, COO, Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company
Shubhodip Pal, Chief Marketing Officer, Micromax
Shaswati Saradar, Director General, MRUC
Suvodeep Das, Marketing Director, Reliance Brands Limited
Dnyanada Chaudhari, COO, Madison Media
