Alcatel-Lucent's Optism Solution Scoring Big Wins for Operators and Brands through Targeted, Permission-Based Mobile Advertising

Next Generation Communications Blog

Alcatel-Lucent's Optism Solution Scoring Big Wins for Operators and Brands through Targeted, Permission-Based Mobile Advertising


By Beecher Tuttle

The most successful advertisers and brands are always those that evolve alongside technology and adapt their campaigns based on recent consumer trends. Just as advertisers once changed their focus from print to digital platforms, marketing groups are now concentrating their efforts on the mobile market.

The inherent difficulty in mobile marketing is that it has almost become synonymous with spamming, where advertisers blanket mobile phone users with promotions, deals and company news that they simple don't care about. If only advertisers could partner with mobile operators and develop a base of consumers who are interested in connecting and interacting with their brand.

With the Optism Mobile Advertising Solution from Alcatel-Lucent, they can.

Optism provides an innovative business model that enables operators and their brand partners to engage with interested consumers through a permission-based system where users "opt-in" to receive ads and promotions. This way, advertisers can engage directly with users who love their products and services via SMS and MMS messages, thus creating value for brands, agencies, consumers and mobile network operators.

While somewhat new on the scene, Optism has already contributed to several wins, particularly in the developing world where mobile phone usage far exceeds PC ownership.

Egyptian operator Mobinil recently undertook an Optism campaign and garnered response rates as high as 54 percent. The company's "Mobile Ads" service was so successful it ended up winning the "Best Value-Added Services" at the Telecoms World event in Dubai last October.

"Since the introduction of our mobile advertising service, we have been able to further increase our relevance to end-users, brands and advertising agencies," said Ahmed Saber, Head of Mobile Advertising at Mobinil. "Leveraging the Optism solution, we are in a unique position to provide brands and advertising agencies access to — and a better understanding of — their potential customer base."

Ghana's Tigo has also found success with Optism, booking response rates of as high as 45 percent. In one campaign with Universal Motors, a total 30 percent of users responded to a Volkswagen Touareg ad, 90 percent of whom asked for more information on the vehicle.

Auto Parts Ltd, a distributor of Nissan automobiles in Ghana, mirrored the success of Universal Motors. "The mobile campaign we ran with Tigo Ads brought us to a wider audience than any other form of digital advertising in Ghana," said Haadi Bawah, marketing manager at Auto Parts. "The response rates to the Nissan Patrol campaign were extremely positive, and we gained insight into consumers’ needs that we can use to shape future campaigns."

In addition to its work with mobile operators and brands, Alcatel-Lucent has been spearheading a mobile advertising initiative dubbed the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), whose goal is to raise awareness around permission-based mobile marketing. The MMA is made up of a number of mobile service providers – including Vodafone Group, Telefonica, 02, Turkcell and Maxis – which are pushing this new initiative.



Related Articles to 'Alcatel-Lucent's Optism Solution Scoring Big Wins for Operators and Brands through Targeted, Permission-Based Mobile Advertising'
Delta launches Telstar.jpg
Velocix.JPG

Featured Events