Executive Summary
The advertising industry is a fast paced growth, challenging and innovative industry. The last decade has seen a shift in the methods and activities used in conducting business. One of the growth industries is the E-commerce industry which has seen the growth in number of people and transactions conducted. E-commerce has benefited from the growth of the internet which has business to become easier. Most of the E-commerce trade has emerged from growth in the use of the mobile phone.
Mobile phone use has grown tremendously in many regions globally making it easier for communication to occur amongst many people. Mobile phone use has been instrumental in the increase of internet users globally who make use of their phones to communicate or do business. As a result, mobile phone technology has been changing fast and in an advanced manner.
Many people make use of the internet to conduct business and their activities and thus creating a huge market for the sell and purchase of goods.
Most of these business people rely on online marketing to popularize their goods and services. As a result, the mobile phone industry has witnessed one of the largest growths in the online marketing since the mobile phones are ideal for online advertising. The future in the use of mobile phones in marketing is very promising, since it is expected that mobile phones will change the advertising industry.
Introduction
The use of the mobile phone has changed the way people conduct business and live their lives. Mobile phones have been predominantly used for communication, but nowadays the device has found many uses. The mobile phone is today used for social interactions, conducting business and even changing lives.
The profound effect the mobile phone industry has had in the business world is unprecedented, since several efforts have been channelled towards thorough utilization of the mobile phone. Among the many businesses that the mobile phone industry has had a positive effect is the marketing industry. Mobile phones are currently the most used devices in the globe currently with mobile phone subscription numbers in the billions. This essay is going to explore the mobile phone use in the marketing industry.
SWOT Analysis
In the analysis, of the use of the mobile phone it is necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis is used in the analysing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and weaknesses of mobile phone use in marketing. Strengths and weaknesses are used to measure the interior factors that affect the use of mobile phones in marketing while opportunities and threats are used in measuring the external factors that affect mobile phone use in marketing.
Strengths
Mobile phones are used by the approximately 3 billion globally and this represents close to 50% of the globe’s population. As a result, the use of the mobile phone will reach a considerable population if it used in marketing. Mobile phone devices are becoming more sophisticated in terms of technology they employ while the same time the cost of these devices are becoming more affordable.
Mobile phone technology has the capability of surfing the internet, displaying images and videos though the phone screens. As a consequence, adverts created in various formats can be deployed to targeted consumers with ease.
The future in mobile phone use is extremely promising, because of the number of mobile phone users has been increasing tremendously especially in Africa and the Asian continents (Cervino, 2004). Mobile phone use technology has advanced to the level where it allows devices to access the internet and the growing numbers of internet users make use of their mobile phones to access the internet.
This is beneficial to advertisers who are interested in launching online campaigns rooting for their products (Gillett, 2011). Mobile phones have the ability to display images, video, audio or graphics in different formats. Therefore, marketing or advertising firms have many different advertising options to utilize in their campaigns.
Weaknesses
The use of the mobile phone has its disadvantages over traditional marketing media such as television or radio. Understanding the dynamics of these mobile phone users is complicated in the sense that mobile phone users is made up of a spectrum of consumers. One of the major weaknesses of the use of the mobile phone in the advertising industry is its small physical size. As compared to other advertising media, mobile phones are physically small and thus some adverts cannot be suited in using the mobile phone (Kohlbacher, 2011).
The use of the mobile phone depends on the infrastructure set up by several mobile phone providers who control the network frequencies. As a result, advertisers seeking to make use of the mobile phone in advertising need to be granted permission by these network providers especially in the case of SMS advertising (Glynn, 2009).
Opportunities
The future in marketing is incredibly challenging to due to the increased competition from different stakeholders. The future and the use of the mobile phone in the advertising industry are extremely exciting. Mobile phone use in Africa and the Asia regions continues to grow presenting an opportunity for marketing firms to make use of the mobile phone industry.
The growth in online advertising is growing at a fast rate surpassing other sectors such as television and traditional media channels. Therefore, the future in the use of mobile phone advertising is an industry that should be harnessed for use in the advertising industry.
Statistics have shown that 80% of the growing internet users make use of the mobile phone. The use of the mobile phone in the advertising industry has also benefitted from advanced technology that is utilized in the mobile phone industry The ever changing technology in the mobile phone industry has helped advertisers to pitch their ads and promotions through different formats (Hanssens, 2003). The future in the advertising industry is set to benefit from these changes in technology.
Threats
The use of the mobile phone faces several challenges from other well known and traditional industries such as TV and Radio. Traditional advertising media are trusted by consumers for their validity. Advertising through the mobile phone also faces the threat of delivery of the advertisers’ message.
For instance, traditional advertising formats make use of adverts that can easily catch the consumer’s eye this is compared to SMS or online adverts that can be easily ignored. There is high competition in the advertising industry with concentration in the online marketing sector (Kapferer, 2002). Traditional advertising media such as direct marketing, newspaper and radio advertising provides competition to mobile phone marketing.
PESTEL Analysis
In the process of analysing market factors and dynamics of the mobile phone future growth, common factors such as Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environmental and Legal issues have to be analyzed. The PESTEL analysis is the best marker to be used in assessing the future of marketing through the use of mobile phones.
Political
The use of the mobile phone has become a vital part of the modern day life. The power in the use of the mobile phone cannot be ignored since political power also recognizes the importance of the mobile phone. Mobile phone use has gained strong significance in many countries in the world due to the ability of mobile phones to change lives.
Many political systems globally have embraced the use of the mobile phones unlike other traditional communication media such as Television and Radio where frequencies are heavily controlled by governments (Kautonen, 2008). For that reason, mobile use penetration has witnessed massive growth in the marketing industry to the benefit of advertisers and marketers.
Economic
Mobile phone use is a strong communication media that have the potential to change lives while at the same time become an economic empowerment tool. Mobile phone use has changed the economies of many people globally because it has been used in improving business and trade. In third world countries such as Kenya, mobile phone use has tremendously changed lives with many people finding employment in the mobile phone industry (Doole, 2008).
Mobile phone technology has been used in special economic activities such as money transfer, online trade through buying and selling of goods. As a result, advertisers and marketers who are interested in marketing their goods should rely on mobile phone technology to promote their goods (Chen, 2006, p.15).
Trade through the use of the mobile phone industry has been on the increase and economists estimate that transactions worth around $ 30 billion were conducted using the mobile phone in the year 2010. Marketers and advertisers should make use of the mobile phone to advance and boost trade by marketing their goods through the use of the mobile phone (Keller, 2001, p. 16).
Social
Mobile phone use has been instrumental in breaking down social barriers associated to communication. With the dial of a number or message, mobile phone users can easily get in touch with one another. This fundamental social aspect is particularly beneficial in reaching out to many people globally.
The mobile phone has reduced distance and time as people can share ideas through the use of the mobile phone technology. Mobile phones have the capability of reaching a wide and vast population making it a powerful media that can be harnessed by advertisers and marketers in their activities.
The advertising industry benefits a lot from increased social marketing trends currently on the rise among mobile phone users. Mobile phone users create one gigantic social market and group in that marketers can harness the opportunity advanced by mobile phone users (Govindarajan, 2007). For instance, many viral videos and the websites such as Youtube can make use of the mobile phone technology to advance marketing ideas.
Technological
Mobile phones make use of latest communications technology in its operation, and this technology has been developed in various parts of the world. Due to the advancement in the mobile phone technology, many applications and technologies have become easily available for deployment in the advertising industry.
Technological advancement in the mobile phone industry has seen mobile phones devices move from simple communication devices to complex devices (Berdy, 2000). Mobile phones have been used in various activities including shooting videos, sending SMS’s or social communication through the use of the internet. This technological advancement has been instrumental in accessing the internet since the mobile phone is currently used for online communication.
Environmental
The mobile phone use has been declared as environmentally safe compared to other forms of communication tools. For instance, newspapers contribute to environmental degradation since trees are used to make paper used in newspapers. The disposal of newspapers and billboards causes a lot of environmental degradation compared to the easily recycled mobile phone waste (Berthon, 2008, p.36).
The process of producing mobile phones is involves a lot of activities and these activities have to be environmentally safe for mobile phones to be sold. Mobile phone service providers have been practising environmentally safe practices in their operations. As a result, the use of the mobile phone does not attract a lot of controversy compared to other communication media. Due to this reasons, advertisers and marketers would prefer to use mobile phones in their future marketing campaigns (Malhotra, 2006).
Legal
Legal factors in the use of the mobile phone marketing include issues related to security, trademark issues. The use of the mobile phone is widespread and many users are afraid of security of using the mobile phone and anonymity of mobile users is very important. As a result, mobile phone providers are bound by legal requirements whereby they are not supposed to disclose information of mobile phone users.
The use of mobile phone has generated a lot of debate in terms of the activities carried out by the use of the mobile phone (DeBonis, 2003). For instance, people with bad intentions can use the mobile phone to achieve ill achieved plans. An example is the blackberry mobile phone which is heavily protected and cannot be easily hacked into.
The issue of security in relation to the mobile phone is based on the fact that mobile phone frequencies can be easily hacked. Moreover, mobile phone providers can easily retrieve information from mobile phone users. This is a legal issue that could affect mobile phone marketing since mobile users don’t want their information to be displayed to unknown people (Stavros, 2008, p.52).
Current Competitor Analysis
In the competitive marketing industry, it is important for an organization or individual to assess the competition in order for important strategies to be mapped out. The future in mobile phone marketing depends on how effective is the competition in attracting consumers. The main competitors of mobile phone in the marketing industry include; Events, direct marketing, Magazines, Television and Outdoor advertising media.
Events
The advertising world is currently facing stiff competition from several communication media and between many different firms. One of the communication medium that has seen unprecedented growth is the events and sponsorship based marketing. The events sector has witnessed huge growth with many advertisers anticipating that this sector will grow by a margin of around 53% in the future.
Many organizations these days prefer using event-based marketing, as opposed to the internet or mobile phone marketing. This is because event based marketing is more targeted towards consumers unlike other forms of advertising (Curry, 2007). Event-based marketing will provide stiff competition against mobile phone marketing.
Direct Marketing
In the future, more advertisers will rely on direct marketing to promote and market their goods. Direct marketing is preferred compared to other forms of advertising. Direct marketing is mostly preferred medium for targeting consumers in the different market segments.
According to statistics, direct marketing is set to grow by a figure of 39% although; it is only 15% of advertisers who do not use direct marketing as the channel of advertising (Hanssens, 2003). Direct marketing is set to compete with mobile phone marketing in the future advertising industry.
Magazines
Magazines are exciting and entertaining to read since most magazines are tailored for specific audiences. Since magazines are specific in their content and target consumers, magazines are able to reach a huge audience.
Advertisers prefer using magazines in their campaigns because this creates competition for use of mobile phone in marketing. Magazine advertising has grown from its position in the past and now it is used in targeting specific types of consumers. However, magazine advertising growth in the future is set to target close to a third of the growth in advertising (Kapferer, 2002).
Television
The television industry has traditionally been used for pitching adverts or campaigns for advertisers. The presentations of adverts in the television are vivid and appealing to potential consumers. However, the cost of launching adverts using the television is costly and thus it only suits advertisers who have huge financial muscle (Berthon, 2008, p.35).
Moreover, television adverts are short, and potential consumers get very little time to understand the advertised products. This is in comparison to the use of the mobile phone whereby online videos can be accessed through the mobile phone giving ample time for potential consumers to decide on the product they like.
Outdoor Advertising
Outdoor advertising is quite popular among advertisers, and marketers since this form of advertising easily catches the eye of the potential customers. Billboards are the most common outdoor advertising media used and most of the billboards contain vivid images.
The use of outdoor advertising is growing in the marketing field but, the statistics show that this form of advertising is losing out to online advertising (Kitchen, 2004). The mobile phone industry enjoys the market for the large share it contributes to the increasing online users. As a result, outdoor advertising might grow but to levels and margins lower compared to mobile phone marketing.
Important Factors in Mobile Marketing
The marketing requires the use of a consistent and clear strategy to be used in mobile phone marketing. In the assessment of the use of mobile marketing, we have to look into factors such as product, price and place.
Product
The mobile is an important device in marketing due to the technology it utilizes. According to statistics, among every three human beings in the world, one person owns a mobile phone. The mobile phone utilizes technology that can allow different formats of adverts to be displayed.
The mobile phone as a product is widely used globally, and this creates a huge market for advertisers to make use of in promoting their products (Sheehan, 2010). The mobile phone has several advantages such as its portability, light size in terms of weight and user friendly.
Most mobile phone users who make use of the internet to socialise through social sites such as Facebook or Twitter (Kasper, 2000). As a result, advertisers can tailor their adverts into the format that will be appealing to the mobile phone user. According to a study conducted on the use of mobile phones, researchers found out that mobile phones are replaced every 18 months and in advanced markets like Korea and Japan mobile phones are replaced every 6 months (Stavros, 2008, p. 44).
This statistics attests that mobile technology is easily and widely accepted. Therefore, marketers should in the future enhance the use of mobile phone in marketing. Due to the fast-changing technology in the development of the mobile phone, users have found acceptance in the concepts developed for the mobile phone. Advertisers and Marketers should embrace this technology in the marketing field.
Price
Mobile phone use and technology are easily available at an affordable cost. The low cost of mobile phones has made these devices be easily available to users of different ages and categories. Unlike products such as newspapers or television sets which are of fixed prices and features, mobile phones come in different sizes and prices.
The cost of a mobile phone depends on the capability and features of the phone, but most phones come with standard features at affordable prices. Due to the affordable price of a mobile phone, marketers and advertisers can easily create adverts that can be deployed in these devices. The cost of mobile phone marketing is cheap compared to other forms of media such as television or radio (Govindarajan, 2007).
SMS adverts are simple to create at an affordable cost through the use of the cheap mobile phones’ technology. Mobile phone technology is simple to learn due to the huge resources available in the internet at no cost at all. Therefore, advertisers and marketers can harness these technologies in their marketing campaigns and promotions.
Place
In the business of marketing, it is important for marketers to understand the dynamics involved in promoting their goods. The place factor in marketing is very important since it differentiates the several strategies that will be used in marketing.
As a result, advertisers who make use of the mobile phone can reach a huge global market that is not limited to any boundaries (Chen, 2006, p. 16). The online industry is not heavily regulated, and the advancement of the mobile phone technology allows advertisers or marketers to make use of the mobile phone technology in marketing.
Conclusion
The discovery and use of the mobile phone has changed normal human life in several ways. Mobile phones have found better uses compared to the mainstream and traditional utilization of the mobile phone for communication. Today, mobile phones are used to surf the internet, conduct live chats or even shoot videos.
As a result, marketers and advertisers have decided to tap the potential of mobile phones in advertising. The future in advertising will rely more on the use of the mobile phone as opposed to traditional communications media. The use of the internet is set to grow tremendously because most of the new internet users will access this resource through the use of their mobile phones.
The future in marketing will need a medium that can reach a huge market for growth in consumer levels and the mobile phone industry will definitely be the most suitable medium. The mobile phone utilizes technology that enables a variety of messages to be presented in different formats and places. As a result, the future in marketing will heavily rely on the mobile phone industry to promote and market products to different sets of consumers.
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