 "Mobile ad network")
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The electronic media landscape in India spans about 410 news and current affairs channels and 438 entertainment channels as of March 2013, according to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
- At 80,000 plus, the number of registered publications is much higher. But if submission of annual reports is a sieve to filter these through, less than 20 per cent have any real presence to speak of. However, the number of publications that really matter to advertisers and stand out in terms of circulation would be hardly 1,000 or at best 1,500, to err on the side of caution.
This would seem like child's play though when you add the mobile universe to the fray. The two leading app store providers, Apple and Google, have to their credit 700,000 apps each. That is a universe several hundred times the size of traditional, above the line media for each app store. Identifying the exact app to piggyback on to reach out to the consumer is a challenge quite unlike any. And that is only one half of the decision. Inventory on the mobile extends to websites browsed through the device as well.
This should explain why unlike the traditional media, where the media team would typically ink individual contracts with specific channels or publications on behalf of the advertiser, the mobile space needs a partner to break through this universe in a way. Enter the mobile ad networks.
The way the ecosystem works in the mobile space is like this: Aggregators consolidate ad inventory (various apps and space therein as well as the mobile websites) from multiple publishers and offer that to ad networks such as Google's AdMob and Apple's iAds as well as independent networks such as Komli Media, Vserv, InMobi, Tyroo etc. These networks work like the supply side platforms (SSPs) in the digital advertising space. Advertising and media agencies work with the advertisers to define their mobile campaigns and buy space via these networks to reach out to the consumer. Effectively, these networks act as intermediaries, eliminating the need for advertisers and ad agencies to go directly to publishers or aggregators for buying space.
Simple enough. The workflow under the system should be something like this then: The advertiser decides to include mobile in the media mix, advertising agency designs campaign, media agency buys space through the ad network and the campaign breaks. Why is it necessary to go into the details of the workings of the ad networks? That is primarily to understand what exactly your agency is buying for you and what it delivers.
Types of networks
Each network has its own advantages to offer. Like Google's AdMob may come as an add-on to your web spends via adwords, wherein you are leveraging your web spends on the mobile. Or Apple's iAds may allow you to target the slightly sophisticated Apple user accurately. Independent networks, on the other hand, could give you device agnostic reach.
These differentiations would guide your network choice. But irrespective of the network you pick, there is another important choice to make alongside. Like in a game of poker, should you play blind or not? Meaning, the choice here is between a blind network and a non-blind network. With the former, you specify the websites and apps you wish to advertise on and the latter requires just the mention of the genre. So, if you wish to promote a gaming app, you could advertise on other gaming apps. "The only indication of the inventory type that may be provided in a non-blind network is a sample list, on the basis of which advertisers make their choice. The content is brand-safe to alleviate concerns on that front," says Ashwin Puri, head, mobile segment, Komli Media. Even within the genre chosen, it is quite possible that some of the top apps may be kept out of the list. For example, while 100 gaming apps may be made available to you as inventory to pick from, premium platforms like the highly successful Angry Birds and Candy Crush may be kept out.
These apps fall in the premium and super premium categories and hence may not be available as a part of the network. Consider popular apps for social media like Facebook or Twitter. The ad inventory for these channels may be sold directly to advertisers or exclusively through networks but not as a part of the larger inventory. Within non-blind, the choice breaks down as: regular, premium or super premium.
Targeting capabilities
The most important capability that one needs in mobile advertising is accurate targeting. In fact as Narayan Murthy, director, global sales and strategy, Vserv.mobi, says, "No one (advertisers or agencies) buys ad inventory any more. They buy an audience." Meaning, it is not an en mass reach that one is looking at, but rather a predetermined profile of users. Ad networks are pulling out all the stops to acquire better targeting capabilities.
Look at some of the recent activity in this segment for proof. In January 2013, InMobi acquired Overlay Media, a data analytics start-up which specialises in context-aware technologies to improve targeting and personalisation of its mobile ads. Vserv launched AudiencePro through a tie-up with Airtel in January 2013. In addition to the standard targeting capabilities, this offering enables advertisers to target consumers based on their demographics, spending power, network usage, location and content relevance. Komli Media has struck a deal with Yoose, a hyper-local mobile ad network to offer location-based ads using geotargeting. These are still very early days for geotargeting of course, but the race has begun in right earnest.
Take the example of a campaign executed by Vserv for Samsung during the launch of its mobile handset, S4, positioned as a premium product. Effective targeting meant reaching out to an audience that could afford it. Certain parameters were determined like existing smartphone users, even those using competition devices in a similar price range and interested in upgrades etc. It was designed as a plain vanilla product campaign to communicate the different features of the phone.
To understand the concept pictorially, imagine a Venn diagram, wherein different segments are identified and that final subset that sits at the interaction of all the circles is the defined target audience. The only post campaign analysis one can hope for is in terms of clicks generated or impressions (ad views) generated. But if your intent is to generate performance (get app installs, push transactions, generate leads), a more sound numerical analysis post the campaign is possible.
Here's what Tyroo, another ad network did for Domino's Pizza. The campaign ran for a brief period of a couple of hours, with an aim to drive calls into the call centre immediately. The parameters defined for selecting the audience included two key things: an urban user, which was a broad definition, and a micro one, users of Wi-Fi on the phone.
In each of these examples, the profile of the consumer to be targeted was defined first and then the inventory was purchased, much like one does in traditional media across the board. While the broad rules of the game on mobile are the same as those in other media, micro targeting is neither cheap nor easy. Consider this: The costing for mobile advertising is based on the number of clicks generated, each click paid for by the advertiser. While on the web, you may pay Rs 5 to Rs 8 per click, on the mobile it may cost Rs 2-3 on an average. If the target audience comprises of feature phone users, the cost could be lower at Rs 0.60-0.70 even. But if it is the Apple users you wish to focus on, be ready to shell out Rs 5-7 per click, says Siddharth Puri, CEO, Tyroo Media.
The cost could be higher if the inventory is available for real time bidding. Basically, publishers or app developers can align the same inventory with multiple ad networks. Despite the inventory available with multiple networks, the number of ad impressions possible stays static. Hence, the bidding. You bid for the same inventory and the highest bidder naturally wins. As per Puri of Komli Media, almost 60-70 per cent of the total mobile ad inventory in the market is available for real time bidding.
Advertisers are still not very surefooted about their mobile strategies. Be it creatives, be it reach, mobile is still posing challenges and possibly not given its due. With the rapid spread of mobile, however, it will be in the interest of advertisers to look at innovative ways to engage with the consumer. Yes, the internet deserves a full measure of credit and admiration for developing new advertising concepts and business cases that made possible the spectrum of wonderful developments on the Web. But from here mobile advertising has to lead the way by innovating rapidly and looking ahead to a day when data unites all the advertising platforms, from mobile to desktop to TV and beyond.
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App branding: New age marketing tool EXPERT TAKE |
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Most people can’t imagine their lives without the mobile phone today and rightly so. It is not just a gadget for calling and messaging. It is the all pervasive ‘second screen’ in their lives, one that they turn to for a quick entertainment fix in the middle of a long, hectic day.
Content companies are going all out to make this experience as pleasurable for its fan base, engaging with them beyond the content provided through games, pop up quizzes, instant polls, customised play lists, personalised content etc. Reality show addicts get to vote and comment on the show’s contestants; news broadcasters give political enthusiasts a chance to tweet questions for chat show panelists, comment on a show’s topic, on a piece of trending news and so on.
Such is the popularity of this medium that apps of certain top media houses and marquee shows gain more traffic than the viewership of many smaller TV channels. Look at the numbers pertaining to online video consumption trends in India: As per a report published earlier this year by an internet analytics company, India’s online video consumption has doubled to 3.7 billion video views per month in the last two years.
Naturally, as more viewers look to this space in the few minutes they have for unwinding during a day, this space becomes a hotbed for advertising and brand positioning and an additional opportunity for content creators to monetise their work.
Content on the mobile tends to create stickiness among the viewer due to its above mentioned interactive manner. The fall out is better targeting abilities: when viewers watch any show online, they leave behind a trail that can be later used to develop a database. It can thus be used to access and engage viewers for further content specific viewing making targeting possible on the second screen.
Another attractive quality of advertising online and on mobile apps is how they open themselves in multiple ways to induce return on investment. The pay-per-click method of partnership allows the content platform to earn revenue from the advertiser for every time a viewer clicks on an ad or watches a video ad at the time of pre-roll or in-wap. This comes as a boon to small time advertisers and SMEs as their brands get greater visibility. It offers innovative solutions for video campaigning for those companies that cannot afford advertising on television to begin with. Thanks to these multiple layers of advantages that online viewing of content offers to the audience, the content owners and advertisers, this platform is now the indubitable space for those who want to be noticed by the right target audience and provide robust return on investments for brands.
Nikhil Sama
Founder & Managing Director, Snaplion
Founder & Managing Director, Snaplion
