How mobile helps make static media more appealing

THE WORLD of marketing is undergoing a sea of change, and companies like Mobilitrix are jumping in to help drive that change. Andrew Cardoza, Mobilitrix CTO, says the company was formed four years ago to bring an interactive element to static marketing.

When the company launched, it focused on classified ads, allowing users to send an SMS to a number on a static medium and get a response. The idea started when a friend of Cardoza`s wanted to rent out his flat, and advertised in the newspaper. After the first two days, he found a tenant. However, after that he continued to receive calls about the flat. This posed the problem  how do you shut down a newspaper ad?

The answer lay in the electronic world, where things are updated every second. Cardoza created a service linking a mobile element to static ads. In this way, potential customers could interact with advertisers to receive their latest information.

Cardoza worked from home for two years, but in 2007, Chris Rolfe came aboard and the two formalised the company. Now, the service links static ad campaigns to MMS, vouchers, links to additional information, competitions and surveys. Making static media interactive leaves a big, impersonal billboard feeling a lot more personal, he says.

REACHING EVERYONE

Why mobile? The answer is obvious. "With the uptake of mobile phones, especially in emerging economies, everyone has a cellphone. Mobile has changed our lives," he says.

Mobile marketing has many opportunities for SMEs, Cardoza says. For SMEs, Mobilitrix designed a business model that requires no upfront fees. Only the services delivered get paid for. This model is becoming the norm, Cardoza says, because people are increasingly able to get good service on a restricted budget.

He says the Mobilitrix model allows people to buy their marketing campaigns in small chunks. The smallest chunk on offer from Mobilitrix costs R2.50, and can be topped up, like prepaid airtime.

Cardoza says the current favourite trend for mobile marketing is "text & win" campaigns, because they take the least creative energy. But, he adds, companies are getting more innovative.

Y USE PRINT?

Generation Y is changing the face of marketing, he says. "The challenge for print is interactivity. Young people like to be interactive, always engaged. Print is not going to speak to them, so it needs to find a way to. So too with television and radio. The challenge is to turn the broadcast paradigm into an interactive one."

LOOKING NORTH

The company is planning to move upwards into Africa, says Cardoza. Mobilitrix looked at the viability of the South African model in Nigeria. "We want to expand to emerging markets, where people rely on mobile." He says the technology will have to be reassessed if they are to go elsewhere in Africa.

Mobilitrix only uses technology that supports their expansion plans. He says the current technology does not allow MMS across different countries. "We are using a solution that works more effectively than MMS. We rely on technology and services that are network and handset agnostic. This is to ensure that our clients can move beyond and not only see 2% of the market share, like an iPhone application."

TECH FOR NON-TECHIES

Mobilitrix`s advantage, he says, is that all the "technical stuff" is hidden and the user sees only the easy-to-use parts. "When you hide the technical aspect, people are a lot more willing. It is not about the technology. Our clients want to get into mobile with the least path of resistance. We have achieved most of our goals in this regard - but we continue to work on improving this."

He says the company offers a full self-service model. You can be up and running in a few minutes and can do your mobile marketing 24/7 yourself.

There`s an old saying often attributed to John Wanamaker, which goes: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don`t know which half." Cardoza says Rolfe quotes this often in terms of the business model, and explains that with an element of electronic advertising, it is possible to monitor your advertising and determine which half is redundant.