With just under two months to go until the official opening of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, the mobile industry has kicked into high-gear, as marketers and service providers prepare to cash in on the biggest sporting event SA has seen in years.
Brett St Clair, SA country manager for mobile advertising platform AdMob, says: “The previous World Cup was largely seen as the World Cup of the Internet, but this will be the World Cup of the mobile.”
He adds that, while internationally many marketers began their World Cup mobile strategies last year already, activity is only now picking up in SA - and at a frantic rate. “On day 100, my phone started ringing off the hook; everyone is rushing around in a flat panic.
“The guys who prepared ahead have already done their placements, while the ones doing it now are only starting their pre-campaigns. We're going to see a mass amount of media coming in, about two weeks before the World Cup.”
St Clair notes that, for the event, marketers will focus on two audience types. “One is the international tourist, a very different mobile user than we're used to, as they expect apps and rich media on high-end smartphones.”
He says World Cup mobile marketing involves a three-pronged strategy. “There's the pre-World Cup strategy - how to get hold of tourists before the event; how to reach them during the event; and then the post-campaign. The second audience is visiting fans and tourists, says St Clair, with a similar phased approach for this market.
“The World Cup will give mobile marketing massive exposure. We expect to add around a billion impressions during the tournament; there's going to be a lot of very rich mobile inventory.”
He adds that, even after the World Cup ends, marketing spend won't drop dramatically, but simply taper as it becomes more locally focused.
In a recent AdMob World Cup survey on mobile activity and audience profiles, it showed the average user would be male (62%); LSM 6 (34%); black (83%); and between the ages of 35 and 49.
“People are going to be on their mobiles and will want to check scores, check their team standings, read news and chat,” notes St Clair. “People are realising that fans want to be involved and want a rich experience. The football community is going to be an "uber-mobile community.”
Diogo Peral, Web site manger of Soccer-Laduma, which has a large following on its mobi site, says they've seen a huge surge in interest in international games. “There's a lot more activity in the international football section - the focus has shifted from local PSL games to following international stories and players. We're going to have to make sure we've got journalists following all the global action.”
He says traffic in this section has increased by 40% at least, and that the site is running out of advertising inventory.
“We're hoping to cover everything - score previews, reviews, news, forums, and fans can follow everything on their cellphone if they're moving around.”
Peral adds the site aims to attract foreign visitors, and show them they can get all the World Cup news, events and team information on a local site. He says Soccer-Laduma will cater for international expectations, with rich media for high-end smartphones.
“We're looking at the iPhone and BlackBerry, and will make sure those with top-end handsets get suitable content. At the same time, we don't want to offer something that's going to display poorly on lower-end handsets, so each will have content their devices are capable of [carrying].”
A recent Accenture survey on consumer electronics products and usage found 64% of emerging market consumers consider the mobile phone their most important piece of technology. It further shows the extent of technology use among these consumers is greater than that of mature markets - so they're most likely to take full advantage of the activities available on any one technology device.
According to St Clair, AdMob saw a billion ad requests in Africa in 2009, with SA making up 226 855 666 of that number. “This shows there's an audience out there that's desperate to be part of the digital community, and their only point of access is the mobile phone.”
He adds that low-end smartphones are likely to be snapped up in future, and that companies, like BlackBerry, are already starting to target the low-end market with cheaper handsets, and a fixed, flat fee for data or Internet access.
“So, for R2 a day, I get unlimited mobile Internet, unlimited messaging; that's why BlackBerry traffic is going to go through the roof. The developing world is going to skip apps and go straight to the Internet.”
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