We’re regularly throwing around stats providing evidence for just how much South Africans love their mobile phones, but this latest stat from Nielsen on the size of the South African cell phone market demonstrates a pretty significant shift, and should make marketers sit up and take a lot of notice. And then take a close look at their current marketing mix to make sure they are taking advantage of this new media dynamic.

According to Nielsen’s recently released Mobile Insights study in South Africa, more South Africans (29 million) use mobile phones than listen to the radio (28 million). This is a profound shift, as radio has always been seen as the darling of both South African advertisers and PR folks, thanks to its massive reach and excellent results.

TV comes in third, with 27 million viewers in South Africa. DSTV/M-Net viewers are at 5.5 million and internet users at 5 million. The report doesn’t say, but based on other industry numbers, this is most likely desktop internet users.

Now of course this doesn’t imply advertisers should abandon radio and TV in favour of mobile devices, but it does indicate that savvy advertisers and marketers have the opportunity to up their game and steal the march on their competitors with compelling multi-channel campaigns, leveraging the distinct benefits of mobile.

Speaking at the Mobilize 2011 conference last week, another Nielsen analyst, general manager of digital Jonathan Carson, pointed out that based on their tracking of how people use smartphones and tablets, it becomes very clear that tablets specifically are used while doing other things, especially watching TV. This, said Carson, provides TV companies with both an opportunity and a challenge: while their audiences might be highly distracted, they also have the opportunity to present more of a surrounded environment for their audience and advertisers.

The same can be said about mobile’s surging ahead of radio and TV in South Africa. It is highly, highly likely that very often cell phones are being used while people are listening to the radio and watching TV. So if brands aren’t considering digital and especially mobile at the outset of any campaign, these stats should be a big wake up call. While your consumers are listening to and watching your beautifully crafted traditional advertising, they are holding in their hands and engaging with a cell phone – the ideal time to get them to take the next step and deepen their brand engagement via a device they love.

Or if, as a brand or agency, you are thinking mobile from the outset, what are you doing to use the platform to make this most of this multi-tasking media dynamic in new, clever and appropriate ways? SMS shortcodes are still one of the easiest and most effective (when done right) ways to bridge the gap between traditional media and more interactive, digital media. But depending on your brand and your customers, the sky is the limit when it comes to gaming, augmented reality, QR codes and user-generated content, to name a few.

Mobile is also the bridge to social media. Nielsen says 11 percent of South Africans use their mobiles to go online, and consumers aged 25-34 are the heaviest users. Facebook is the most popular social media platform, used by 85 percent of mobile subscribers and half of all users of Facebook in South Africa access the site via their mobiles.

No doubt in a few years time we are not even going to be having this discussion: mobile, social and digital are going to be just another line item in a multi-channel campaign, rather than an afterthought or a crazy new idea we’re “just trying out”. Until then, though, forward-thinking brands have the chance to break new ground – it’s where your customers already are, after all.

First published on Vomo.

So the sky didn’t fall in after all, nor have we reverted to drawing on the cave walls with charcoal, or sending each other messages with smoke signals since Steve Jobs’ retirement as Apple’s chief executive last month.

Instead, let’s all take a deep breath and start to consider what Jobs’ departure — strictly speaking a change in role, he is now chairman of Apple’s board — means for mobile marketing.

For a start, Jobs is undeniably the great disruptor when it comes to the mobile industry. As Justin Siegel, CEO of MocoSpace, said Steve Jobs was responsible for making voice calls a peripheral feature of a mobile phone. And despite the limitations of the iPhone, there is no denying it is a thing of beauty when it comes to usability.

Then enter the iPad. Clearly not a phone, and can do a lot of what you usually use a desktop or laptop computer for, but very definitely a mobile device.

Last year the third piece of the puzzle fell into place. iAds is a closed mobile ad delivery platform that allows iOS developers to monetize their apps, and brands to engage with users of Apple’s mobile devices — in a more exciting way than previously possible with mobile advertising, according to Jobs. The key, apparently, is entrenching mobile advertising into iOS4. Generally the jury appears to still be out when it comes to the success of iAds and how innovative it really is.

According to Jeff Hasen at analysts Mobile Groove: “[iAds] has been a large disappointment for many advertisers and others (like me) who looked at Apple’s move into mobile advertising as a milestone and much needed push to move the industry along.”

Hasen continues to say though that if iPhone is also sold via Sprint and T-mobile in the US, as is expected to happen this year, the critical mass needed for advertisers to see real returns might become a reality. And if we know one thing about Apple fans, they are willing to wait while bugs get worked out of products and service.

So what’s next?

Steve Jobs continues to be involved with Apple as chairman of the board, and industry commentators say he is expected to remain involved in product and strategy development. Tim Cook, former chief operating officer who now takes over the chief executive reins from Jobs, has sometimes been dismissed as an accountant and lacking Jobs’ flair, passion and charisma. However, general consensus seems to be he is a solid pair of hands and can execute the current plan well.

Cook himself said in an email to Apple staff: “I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that – it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.”

The market seems to be calm so far as well, after a few shaky days immediately after Jobs’ resignation announcement. Gartner analyst Van Baker said: “My suspicion is that Apple will do just fine. There are so many talented people there and Steve’s attention to detail is baked into the culture.”

And while it appears to be business as usual at Apple, it is going to be interesting to watch what Apple’s competitors do. Shares in Samsung Electronics, the manufacturer of iPad competitor the Galaxy tablet, rose three percent, while LG Electronics jumped four percent after Jobs’s announcement, reported Memeburn. Samsung certainly seems to be upping the ante in terms of marketing and smartphones sales in recent months, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if it took this opportunity to grab market share from Apple.

As ever, it seems, mobile marketers need to stay nimble and on their toes, ready to respond to a constantly changing, but always growing, market.

First published on Vomo.

South Africa is well-known as a global leader in the mobile space — within our borders in any case – and we have been credited with a number of world-wide firsts including pre-paid mobile accounts, and SMS banking alerts. Indeed, some of our best-known, local-global success stories are mobile related — think Fundamo, MXit and Clickatell.

Unfortunately, I’d argue, we aren’t always the best at shouting our successes from the rooftops, and I am concerned that I am seeing the same thing happen in the mobile marketing space. By rights, we should be setting the standard for real results-orientated, broad-based mobile marketing campaigns. Let’s ignore, for the minute, the fact that headline writers all to often favour the sexy, yet very niche iPhone, over more bread ‘n butter stuff that is actually reaching a target audience in a highly effective way. I’m still not seeing awesome case studies coming from South African companies and agencies, with real results and ROI data attached to them.

I did a brief round up of how others in the industry would summarise the state of mobile marketing in South Africa today:

BulkSMS’s Pieter Streicher reminds us that permission-based marketing is here to stay, especially when it comes to mobile marketing:

By now, most companies should have woken up to the fact that if they want to stay in business for any length of time, permission-based marketing is the order of the day. In other words, get permission from customers and potential customers before marketing to them. What companies might not yet realise, is that SMS can be key to gaining this permission.

But, all too often the ball is dropped after the first engagement, making the customer database worthless. Once a company has started an SMS conversation with a customer – whether via an in-store promotion, on-package competition, TV ad or at an event – the engagement needs to be extended via a subscription to a VIP club, offer discounts and vouchers, provision of useful information or any number of other value-based offerings via a range of communication channels, including SMS.

An upbeat Mike Stopforth from Cerebra says:

It’s been an extremely exciting second-half of 2011 so far for mobile marketing. The sale of MXit to World of Avatar promises the continued growth and development of the mammoth instant messaging platform, while other homegrown applications like Motribe.com continue to achieve maturity and attract key clients and brands. The days of mobile marketing being limited to an SMS campaign and a mobisite are long gone, with agencies and clients alike looking to integrate mobile into marketing campaigns and online community management. In some cases we’re even seeing mobile lead marketing efforts. It’s an exciting time to be in mobile and I look forward to what 2012 will reveal!

Speaking of MXit, the mobile messaging company’s new owner and boss, Alan Knott-Craig feels we’re only at the beginning of what is to come:

Brands are only now awaking to the marketing opportunities presented by mobile phones…. Vodacom sends over 20 million Please Call Me’s every day. Each message ends with a short paid-for advert. They are sold out months in advance! At MXit we have over R1 billion of advertising inventory this year. Ten million people engage with MXit on a daily basis, spending an average of 45 hours a month on the platform. Show me another property like that and I’ll eat my hat.

Google’s head of mobile for SA, Brett St Clair pinpoints 2012 as the year of the smartphone in SA, as well as the opportunity that exists for shopping and mobile. He also points out that perhaps I haven’t been paying attention, with SA agencies winning international mobile marketing awards:

South Africa lead the way early in 2009 with Mobile Web Marketing, ranking in top 3 countries in the world for traffic volumes. Things have evolved and with around 6.7 million smartphones in the Market and this is on a rapid growth path as low cost Android handsets enter the market so we are seeing South Africa top the charts once again with mobile marketing audience engagement. This time consumers are engaging with search on mobile smartphones, using apps and HTML5.

Already 1 in 3 searches have a location element in them, consumers are using their phones as shopping companions on the go. 2012 will definitely be the year of the smartphone in South Africa, this will allow marketers to engage with audiences using rich media, contextually relevant targeting features and complete end to end tracking on phones. It is great to be working in one of the most innovating countries in the world when it comes to Mobile Marketing, last year South African marketing agencies won 3 out of the 5 international MMA Awards (Mobile Marketing Association), I am looking forward to this year’s event.

While all of these are great points, notice what’s missing from the industry at large? Real-life examples of effective campaigns, whether stand alone or as part of a multi-channel campaign, with actual results and outcomes. Instead, unfortunately, we are being fed and/or are resorting to case studies from abroad, typically more suited to a US or European, iPhone-wielding market.

First published on Vomo.

Unlike any other digital device, mobile phones – especially smartphones – have entrenched themselves in so many parts of our lives, both online and offline. This is perhaps unsurprising, given we take our mobile phones everywhere with us, and typically have a pretty close relationship with them.

Recent statistics show to what extent the smartphone is already impacting our on- and offline shopping experiences, and this provides retailers and mobile marketers potentially very fertile ground for driving customer engagement via mobile.

According to Google’s Our Mobile Planet data, 28% of South African smartphones users say they take their smartphones along with them to compare prices and inform themselves about products while shopping. 26% have changed their mind about buying a product or service while in-store, based on the information they discovered using their smartphones. And, this behaviour extends to online shopping as well: 27% of South African smartphone users have changed their mind about buying a product or service online as a result of info they have gathered using their smartphone.

Only 15% of South African smartphone users have used mobile coupons for shopping in-store however, so it seems we have a long way to go when it comes to proactively engaging with customers via their smartphones.

Here are five suggestions for driving customer engagement via mobile:

1. Go online

Far too many retailers in South Africa barely have an adequate desktop internet site, not to mention mobile site (a PDF of a brochure does not constitute an adequate online presence). Not only should product or service information be easily available online, with pricing and contact information, the site should be mobile optimised for the smartphone users searching for product and pricing information on-the-fly (take a look at how Gap tripled its conversion rates with its m-commerce site). Based on the data above, it is clear that consumers are going to walk out your store, or pick up a competitor product off the shelf, if they can get better information online, via their smartphone, from your rival.

2. Be clever about QR codes

QR codes have received a fair bit of bad press recently, but I am tending to agree with the opinion that this is because they have been poorly implemented, rather than the lack of any intrinsic marketing value in the technology itself. The concept is still relatively new, with best practices and comparative data still emerging, but used right could be a very powerful way of driving customer engagement via a mobile device. Marketers need to think through their QR code campaigns a bit better for this to happen, including how the campaigns are constructed, the content provided by the barcode, and the follow-ups and calls to action.

3. Build a mobile community

We’ve been all about online communities for the last few years, but it’s obvious that with so many “mobile-first” and “mobile-only” internet users out there, mobile communities are going to be crucial to engaging with customers. Brands such as Guinness are doing interesting things with mobile communities in Nigeria via Motribe – and it would be fascinating to see how this has impacted Guinness’s customer engagement in that market.

4. Don’t forget about the feature phones

It’s definitely not all about smartphones, especially in South Africa, where more basic phones still comprise 85% of the market. This will change, with more affordable smartphones coming online, but feature phone users are unlikely to ever disappear completely. Here, the humble SMS can be very effective in driving customer engagement, as long as your campaign – as with QR codes – is well-planned, shares interesting and diverse information, and has a strong and clear call to action.

5. Make mobile coupons easy and worthwhile

Our Mobile Planet says 54% of SA smartphone users wouldn’t mind receiving ads if they received rewards or freebies. But only 15% have used a coupon to buy a product in-store. Now while South Africa doesn’t have as strong a coupon culture as America does, it has been my experience that all too often mobile coupons are too complicated, have too many catches or are just not easy to use. But the stats seem to indicate that some work here could go a long way to driving customer engagement.

First published in Vomo.

In my opinion (sorry!), opinion pieces should always be an essential part of any public relations campaign. But today, more than ever, with newsrooms under so much strain and more and more companies clamouring for your audience’s finite attention span, they are an essential part of the mix.

In part one of this three-part series, I defined what opinion pieces are and why they are such a vital PR tool. Now, in part two, I take a look at the mechanics of pulling together an op-ed and getting it placed.

1. Have a strong opinion

First and foremost, make sure your client has an opinion. More than that, make sure their opinion adds value, moves a story along and is controversial, rather than just regurgitating what others have said.

Unfortunately, some companies simply can’t easily agree on a point of view, whether for personality or business reasons. If this is the case, as a PR professional you are going to be hard-pressed to produce an authentic and evocative opinion piece for your client.It can be done, but I believe the most successful pieces are based on a strong opinion generated by a client, then packaged and conveyed by the PR.

Read the rest of my article on Bizcommunity.

In parts one and two of my series on the opinion piece and its role in the PR mix, I defined what opinion pieces are, why they are such a vital PR tool and the mechanics of pulling together an op-ed and getting it placed.