‘FBing’, ‘tweeting’, ‘SoLoMo’, are the new friends for every marketer in marketing, promotion, advertising and sales of any product or brand. These three abstract terms may be new in the field of marketing but not to us as users and account holders for these social medium. Well, some eyebrows might have been raised as to what SoLoMo is? This is the NEXT BIG THING in town; Social Local Mobile.
All thanks to the Chief Operating Officer of Madhouse India, Mr Vinod Thadani for opening the doors of a zillion opportunities and possibilities from within the ‘palms of the consumers’; the mobile phones! Yes! that’s right, marketing through the mobile phones is what SoLoMo is all about.
The social media and the social local mobile are the new modes of marketing for marketers these days. This indeed is the most efficient means as Thadani sites the example of saving the consumers from a phone call or a drive to the nearest pizza outlet for finding out the new flavor or offers of the week. He can access the information ‘hands on’ through a message on his mobile phone! How much simple more can it get!!
Thadani has been with Madhouse India for almost a decade and through his expertise he claims that social local mobile could be more powerful in the rural markets. It is one of the efficient means of finding solutions on how to promote or connect the brands well with the consumers or specific target market. Madhouse assures solutions to the problems of brand strategy, planning, creativity ,etc. The Madhouse COO states that the Indian marketers have only seen the tip of the iceberg of mobile advertising.However this market is expected to grow to Rs 1,000 crore with the current mobile penetration of 130% in the urban market.
Thadani’s position also calls for visits to China for analysing the mobile market similarities and overcoming the nuances of the market alike. However China has only three mobile operators while India has twenty to her credit and in spite of the huge figures, ironically China leads ahead of India in the number of mobile internet users.
Mobile is anywhere and everywhere.But the fact lies that the brand managers are way behind and skeptical when it comes to understanding and linking their consumers with brands through mobile phones. Thadani states that it’s quite difficult when it comes to convincing the marketers and the promoters regarding the social mobile marketing when its consumers are ready, willing and ahead of them. The marketers and advertisers state that one needs to find out and analyze the brand market well enough, before coming out with solutions or offering. This leads to over selling the medium where all efforts for brand connectivity goes in vain.
Well, Thadani has introduced the concept of Social Local Mobile but how well it works for the marketers, brands and consumers regarding the engagement, usage and mobility is yet to be seen.
