CommunicAsia 2011 – Key Learnings

Last week, the Mobile Marketing Association had the honour of hosting the Mobile Value Added Services (VAS) Strategy tracks on day two and three of CommunicAsia 2011 – the 22nd International Communications and Information Technology Exhibition & Conference. Asia’s largest knowledge based ICT platform, CommunicAsia brings together buyers and sellers to display and discuss the newest technology innovations and latest industry updates from the ICT industry.

The Mobile VAS Strategy tracks at this year’s event facilitated discussions on trends and business models in mobile marketing & advertising, mobile TV, internet and apps, with a focus on Asia Pacific developments and opportunities. The tracks saw participation from industry giants as well as newcomers including Nokia, Velti, Zynga, Telibrahma Convergent Communications Pvt Ltd, Google, Smaato, Out There Media, Blyk, Microsoft Asia, ShowNearby Pte Ltd, Gfk Group, i-POP, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, Web Spiders, CommScope, Dell, RIM Asia, StarHub Ltd, InMobi, BuzzCity, among others.

Discussions ranged from engaging mobile users through mobile and social media to revenue optimization for app developers to m-Commerce. While all of the sessions were both enlightening and engaging, here are my top 10 learnings from the two-day track:

1. Mobile Web and Apps are both equally important from a brands perspective - Web is still the lowest common denominator.

2. Location is key to driving conversion.

3. Consumers are used to navigating across services like augmented reality, bluetooth, Web and apps in a seamless manner.

4. It is no longer about Smartphones as the driver - Feature phones today were the smartphone of yesterday.

5. The benefits of advertising on mobile are clear but the best results will be seen by those who focus on using the medium strategically as opposed to just focusing on flash in the pan tactics.

6. Connectivity will soon be the least of consumer worries – The real challenge will be generating content at the same speed.

7. The mobile advertising future predicted by marketers over the last few years is "NOW" & is overtaking the "traditional digital."

8. Consumers need end-to-end services that not only engage but also help the execute their needs - till the last mile - "conversion"

9. Advertising on mobile will set up a parallel world of retail therapy - Impulsive and cashless.

10. One thing that will fast track the growth of the industry is measurement, metrics and analysis. Every growing industry needs them.