The ₹5000cr Mobile Marketing Opportunity

As smartphone ownership and mobile data usage grow in India, mobile ad spends are projected to grow by 63% in 2018 to reach Rs 3,635 crore. In this scenario, can marketers build brands solely on the mobile platform?

- Beryl Menezes, Christina Moniz And Samarpita Banerjee

For most people, it’s the first thing you look at when you wake up and the last thing you check before you go to sleep. It’s your constant companion and guide. From news and social media, to paying bills and operating bank accounts, to ordering food and groceries, buying clothes and books, watching movies and shows on OTT platforms in the language of your choice and much more – everything can be done within minutes, sitting right where you are, with just a few taps on the mobile phone. And this is no longer restricted to just the urban populace living the ‘fast’ life in the metros.

Indeed, as Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Google India and South East Asia noted at an event in Mumbai recently, there has been a 4x growth in rural Internet users since 2012 and of the 390-odd million Internet users in India, 330 million (around 80%) access the Internet on their mobiles. This number is expected to grow to 500 million by 2020. In fact, he pointed out that regional language Internet users in India (234 million) have already overtaken the number of English language users (175 million), and are expected to account for nearly 75% of India’s Internet user base by 2021. Yet another report by eMarketer reveals that smartphone users in India account for 337 million, growing at 16% year-on-year, with a 75% growth witnessed in the last three years.

No doubt then, in the world’s fastest growing Internet and smartphone market, where users spend an average of 4.5 hours a day on their mobile (according to a report by Kantar IMRB), mobile marketing presents a lucrative, cost-effective, interactive, and measurable option for brands to reach both urban and rural consumers anywhere, anytime. As per the exchange4media Mobile Ad Spends report 2018, mobile ad spends are estimated to grow by 63% in 2018 to reach Rs 3,635 crore, with a projected growth rate of 50-55% in 2019.