Insights On Mobile Advertising – Interview With Naveen Tewari – CEO, MKhoj
We interviewed Naveen Tewari – Founder & CEO of Mkhoj and questioned him about the mobile advertising market in India and how his company Mkhoj was progressing in the same.
What according to you is the current market size for mobile advertising in India? (Sms + WAP/Gprs + Bluetooth)?
Reports say that WAP/GPRS market is about 75 – 100 crore (INR) in India however we have no clear figures on SMS/Blutooth segment.
What is the expected growth rate for mobile ads in next 3 years?
Factors such as the booming mobile market, advent of smart phones at competative prices have witnessed phenomenal growth in the mobile industry. Wireless users in India recently breached the 362 million mark. The Indian Cellular Association expects 200 million people to sign on to the Internet with their mobile phones by 2010. We expect a Growth Rate of around 50-60% year on year at least for the next three years in the mobile advertising industry.
How would the share of ad revenues be between sms, gprs and bluetooth ads after 3 years?
We expect WAP to lead the bandwagon followed by SMS, with bluetooth trailing behind. WAP is inherently interactive and thus engaging, a necessary characteristic for brands to convey messages and tap their audience. We expect that WAP would lead when it comes to advertising campaigns while SMS will be used for broadcast advertising
What are the kind of clients (fmcg, financial etc) that are spending maximum money on mobile ads?
mKhoj is a mobile ad network that helps advertisers to run campaigns on WAP sites. At mKhoj big spenders using this medium are across sectors such as Automobile, Lifestyle Products, Telecom, Portals, Entertainment and Mobile specific products. At mKhoj we are witnessing FMCG, Consumer durables and the like trying the medium and taking early steps.
What is the total mobile inventory that Mkhoj has?
mKhoj has over 1.5 billion impressions across South East Asia and Africa. In India we do over 500 million impressions per month
What is the mode of advertising via mkhoj (per per impression, per click or lead?)?
At mKhoj campaigns are predominently pay per click. Intermitantly we also do pay per impression campaigns.
What are the key challenges for mobile advertising in India?
Over the years mKhoj has witnessed the mobile advertising market in India seeing a phenomenal growth. In fact mKhoj has played a key role in growing the industry and thus growing with it. The key challenges we face are in educating the client and agencies about benefits of mobile advertising, especially so because at mKhoj we believe that setting up benchmarks to success such as establishing the advertiser RoI, maximising publisher monetisation is the key to a successful campaign. That apart, explaining and making them understand location awareness, like ads being served based on user’s location is another challenge we face!
Who are mkhoj’s competitors what has their strategy been in India?
Admob and Buzzcity could be quoted as mKhoj’s competitors. Admob has been in the industry for some time now and they seem to currently look into forming a team in India. Buzzcity is a south-east Asian player but they dont seem to have been very successful in India. Off-late they have started to increase their presence in the region.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS Feed OR Email Alerts!
Good interview Rajiv. Gives lots of insider insights about MobAd Networks.
Looking forward to more interviews like these in times to come.
Cheers!
—
@Sampad
Hello, nice interview!
I didn’t know your blog, Rajiv, but now it’s in my favorites.
About mKhoj, they have some nice cases. I’ve known them because Nirvana Cricket campaign.
Regards!