Marketers urged to use mobile gadgets to promote brands

MANILA, Philippines - Chief marketing officers (CMOs) are advised to use mobile gadgets as a platform to promote their brands given the high penetration rate  of  mobile equipment in the  country.

“Mobile has high penetration in the country and it’s high time that marketers start using it to their advantage,” Arthur Policarpio, head for Asia Pacific of mobile agency network Mobext said at the 1st Philippine CMO Mobile Summit held recently.

Presently, CMOs are not spending much on mobile platform due to lack of knowledge and as there is no reliable framework for measuring the success of investing in such, Policarpio said.

“We’re scared to invest,” he said.

This is the case despite the high penetration of mobile gadgets in the country.

TV5 president Emmanuel Lorenzana said in the same event that there are currently 11 million mobile users in the Philippines.

He also noted that on average, an individual spends 6.4 hours per day on the Internet.

Of the total traffic on the Internet, he added that 13 percent is on mobile gadgets.

The numbers, he said, show the opportunity available for companies to promote their brands and achieve business growth.

As consumers use their mobile gadgets anywhere and anytime they want, using the platform to push the brand will allow the company to reach more individuals.

“Brands that advertise through mobile will have more reach,” Lorenzana said.

For his part, Craig Law-Smith, head of strategy and business development of Singapore’s telecommunication firm SingTel said using a mobile platform will not only allow CMOs to have  a wider reach but also enable them to make their brand and product relevant to the consumer.

“Advertising should be seen as a service, as connecting the brand with the consumer,” he said.

As CMOs are able to interact and understand what consumers want through the platform, he said, they are able to make sure that the brand can connect with the consumers.

“We have to make sure that the customers are at the heart of what we do,” he said.