What does a mobile led future look like?

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In this hyper-connected world, mobile is changing the way people interact, make decisions and live. From diapers to beauty products, athletics and cars, a mobile-first strategy is fast becoming the norm in marketing teams across the world.

This exponential growth and the rapid adoption of mobile are key to driving innovation in marketing.

The proof is in the pudding. Some of the industry’s most successful campaigns that we have seen in recent years – creative, innovative and effective – have been built around mobile. Especially as more and more companies see the need to cut through the clutter and be as close to the customer as possible.

And nothing gets you closer to the consumer than mobile in this day and age.

Hindustan Unilever’s most recent award-winning initiative in India – the Kan Khajura Tesan – is a fine example of the power of, and the opportunity that mobile provides brands, as well as consumers.

A mobile platform based on “missed calls” enabled the organisation to engage with consumers for up to 15 minutes at a time with relevant entertainment content, interspersed with advertising by the company’s brands.

With more than 24 million calls and counting, the organisation has created a bond with more than eight million unique users in a short span of six months and witnessed a significant increase in spontaneous awareness for all three brands associated with the channel – Wheel, Ponds White Beauty and Closeup. Initiatives such as these excite me about the future of mobile marketing.

However, as the conversation in our industry shifts towards how we can further build capabilities for leveraging mobile within the ecosystem, it is important to gain an understanding of how mobile is set to evolve in the future.

For the Millennials and consumers of this generation, mobile is no longer technology. They are already growing up with the device in their hands and usability – not technological specifications – is of greater importance.

This prompts a shift in the role of mobile – and we will continue to see this evolve in the future. From fulfilling communications needs, mobile is now integrated into other aspirational technology innovations, including wearables, droids, retail channel marketing, outdoor media, and the list goes on.

Entertainment will drive the need for the increased capabilities of mobile, fuelling the options and varieties available to consumers. Beyond that, we are also going to see other technologies such as cameras, personal computers and tablets soon adopting and including mobile feature sets. In no time, we will be connected and consuming content in ways that we had never imagined.

This will encourage the purchase prices of devices to drop further, especially as consumers adopt more than one device – large-format for entertainment; small screens for basic communications needs.

This also lends itself to an opportunity for global content makers to be in tune with local culture and nuances in order to increase digital engagement with their consumers. The challenge, however, lies in investment, infrastructure and more importantly – insight, as education is key.

But wherein lies the biggest opportunity for mobile in the future? When the focus moves from consumers to the betterment of the people; when mobile is leveraged for a higher purpose – to facilitate human consumption and social welfare, especially in geographies where traditional media has no reach.

Mobile is the ideal channel to distribute messages related to social issues, including healthcare, education and sustainability. It is critical to the progress of a community, especially due to the personal nature of the device. Organisations such as the WWF are already noticing the positive impact that a mobile-first engagement strategy is making to their efforts. Many others are not far behind.

As we enter the new year, I am convinced mobile will continue to push marketers to rethink the way they approach marketing and engage with their brand’s consumers.

I urge them to use data to better understand the needs and wants of their target audience, as well as new-age technologies to engage with consumers more effectively. Together, I am confident we will drive innovation and build capabilities for success within the industry.

Rohit Dadwal is the managing director of the Mobile Marketing Association, Asia Pacific.

[Image from Shutterstock]