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Describe your company and what role does it play in the mobile marketing ecosystem?
BuzzCity is mobile media company headquartered in Singapore and was established in 1999. Our company develops and markets mobile services and entertainment to the “unwired” – an audience who accesses the internet primarily via their cellphones.
We engage directly with consumers through our media properties, myGamma and Djuzz. The engagement with consumers is extended via our partners who form the BuzzCity Mobile Internet Advertising network. This in turn helps us work with marketers who need to reach to this audience.
How does your company add value or differentiate itself in the marketplace?
In a growing market, you really need to stand out. The industry is at different stages across the globe as technology is being adopted in different ways.
We decided very early on to focus on the unwired- who make up a large portion of the population in many countries – as a previously untapped ‘emerging market’ in many countries.
We are also focused on nurturing the mobile internet as a media, either through user generated content as with myGamma or as an aggregated service like Djuzz . These services help to anchor marketing opportunities that we and our publisher partners offer to advertisers.
What advice would you give to someone who is new to mobile marketing?
It is essential to get to know your user. Whilst people who are new to mobile marketing may think to just target the huge demographic that use mobile phones, it should be used more personally to be an effective tool. Mobile marketing is a tool with distinct usage and behaviour and, therefore, getting to know the user is the most important step in planning a mobile campaign.
What is the one thing you wish you would have known before getting into the mobile marketing industry?
I don’t think it is about what we should have known - we had the basics. Mobile Marketing is a constantly evolving market so some of what we delve into has not been explored completely. Therefore, it is always a learning curve in this industry, which you have to embrace to succeed. The evolving market is much more than SMS push campaigns or coupons and we are learning this as we go along.
Would you like to mention one of your successful campaigns?
One recent campaign that we worked on to fully demonstrate the value of target advertising was Guinness. The world renowned brewery turned 250 years old and decided to create “Arthurs Day” in celebration of Arthur Guinness. To celebrate, Guinness put on concerts in four continents. And to drive people to the event in Kuala Lumpur, where the Black Eyed Peas would perform, the brewery ran mobile ads on the BuzzCity Network. The campaign objectives were clear:
- raise awareness of the event and
- encourage fans to sign up online and attend.
Guinness created a single graphic banner and a text banner to run on Malaysian mobile websites. Users who clicked on the banner were taken to Guinness' mobile portal, where they could learn more about the festival, take part in an online contest and locate nearby pubs.
Overall, this Guinness case study highlights how advertisers can use mobile ads to drive consumers to an event as well as the importance of thinking creatively to get the most out of the medium.
What are 3 three things one should do to ensure a successful mobile marketing (MM) campaign?
- Get to know your audience.
- Choose the right partners – knowing you audience well helps you to choose the right partners to help you communicate with your audience.
- Keep testing - optimising a mobile campaign is all about getting the most number of user actions (clicks, downloads etc) for the least amount of money.
How does Mobile Marketing Association help you drive your mobile strategy?
The MMA has offered a wealth of resources that allows us to build a better business network globally.