Mobilising government

Mercury, in partnership with Yonder Mobile Media, acted as co-sponsors of the conference about the contributions and applications of mobile technology to government communication strategies.

The conference, 3 - 4 November 2009, was opened by Rick Joubert co-chairman of MMA, who provided an overview of the mobile market in South Africa, the MMA and the role of different associations in SA. He presented the numbers, reach and market demographics before ending with an explanation of the mobile road map up to now in the history of mobile marketing. "Mobile is the seventh mass medium and it has already overtaken radio, being the most ubiquitous consumer electronics device in the world," he said. Joubert was head of mobile media at Vodacom before taking up the position of chairman of Yonder Media on 1 October 2009.

Lower LSM groups very price-conscious

A demo showcase by Andy Anderson, senior manager at MTN Business, was followed by a presentation by CEO of SilverstoneCIS, Raymond Buckle, on how to establish and implement mobile strategies and campaigns. Even more importantly, he explained how to plan and measure success through highlighting critical success factors in South African case studies.

Vincent Maher, an expert on social networking at Vodacom SA, gave a realistic overview about elements that are sometimes missing from mobile marketing campaigns.

"The lower LSM groups in South Africa are very price-conscious and therefore to shape engagement means that the service offered has to be one that is truly valued by these groups," was the central message offered by Microsoft's mobile business development manager Ian Puttergill.

MD at Yonder Media, Fiona Smit's challenge was to illustrate effective engagement with citizens and the public at large to create sustainability.

Six 10-minute briefings on case study applications ranging from free education applications, communication to the very poor and applications used by Vodacom SA and MTN, left the audience of government delegates with insight and inspiration of how it can be successfully implemented and adopted by government campaigns.