Tag: african mobile marketing

Mobile marketing is frustrating 80 percent of African consumers

| November 21, 2014

A new survey has revealed that these device users are becoming annoyed with the advertising they are receiving.

The research firm, Ifop, from France, has released the results of a study that they conducted in South Africa and Algeria, which revealed that consumers in those countries are not appreciating the types of mobile marketing that they are receiving from brands and companies.

They discovered that 80 percent of consumers in those countries were annoyed by unsolicited messages they received.

This reveals that the mobile marketing strategies being used by companies and brands targeting smartphone using consumers in Africa may not be nearly as effective as is hoped. Instead of engaging consumers, they are managing to annoy them, instead. Moreover, the research also showed that the same percentage of consumers could be won back by those brands and companies if they change their efforts and implement practices that will enhance the consumer engagement that is promoted by their ads.

This mobile marketing study was conducted by Ifop on behalf of Gemalto using face to face interviews.

Mobile Marketing - AfricaThe mobile advertising research involved the participation of adults over the age of 18 years. There were 800 respondents in Nigeria and South Africa. The purpose of the study was to better determine the opinions of consumers with regards to the types of marketing to which they have been exposed over their smartphones. It sought to pinpoint and examine the negative perceptions that had been formed about this type of advertising in those two parts of Africa. It was conducted back in July 2014.

The study showed that Nigerian and South African consumers had similar desires when it comes to mobile ads and promotions. Consumers in both of those nations have shown that they would prefer to have some control over the types and natures of the ads that they receive over their smartphones and tablets.

It showed that 83 percent of the participants in the study believe that mobile marketing should be an opt-in basis, only. Moreover, 90 percent would want to be able to identify the company or brand from which they receive these messages and communications.

Mobile marketing has massive potential in Africa

| June 24, 2013

M&C Saatchi Mobile has just released a whitepaper to present this concept in greater detail.

A white paper has just been presented by M&C Saatchi Mobile that detailed the tremendous promise that mobile marketing holds in Africa.

The report indicated that the smartphone channel is central to advertising in the continent.

The report showed that Africa is proving to be a very promising emerging region for mobile marketing, driven by affordable smartphones and strong economic growth. This report is only the first in a series that the company intends to release regarding various global regions and the part that smartphones play in the relevance of the advertising there. Many businesses and brands are now functioning under the impression that the best way to reach consumers in Africa is by way of this channel.

This whitepaper has also shown that mobile marketing will play a vital role in the continued development of the region.

Mobile marketing shows promise in AfricaIt illustrated the way the continent was able to leapfrog over the fixed line telecommunications stage that was traditionally used as a stepping stone upward toward the latest, which is the mobile marketing world of today. Africa has moved straight to the cellular services domain instead of stopping and waiting at telecommunications, first.

According to M&C Saatchi Mobile, the new primary means by way African consumers access the internet is over their smartphones. At the moment, there are 84 million internet enabled devices that are already owned and are being used. This makes the channel a very promising one for mobile marketing and reaching consumers very quickly and directly.

According to the company’s global CEO, James Hilton, “Contrary to popular thinking, Africa is not an under-developed region – it’s the second largest and fastest-growing mobile phone market in the world after China.” He went on to say in the statement that he gave about the mobile marketing report, that “The large numbers of African mobile consumers with web-connected smartphones using their device to surf the internet or download apps shows that the assumption that mobile services in Africa are only about SMS and low-end handsets is seriously out of date.”