It’s the new centre for mobile advertising development, says Kerstin Trikalitis (pictured below).

Travelling across Asia, people are struck by the quantity of advertising and marketing all around them. But where you are in this region severely dictates the type of advertising you will consume. Outdoor advertising is everywhere and many of the big cities have very impressive animated billboards, which are great at grabbing the attention of passers-by – however, almost all of the surrounding areas are still awash with old school posters and media clutter.

What this means for brands is that the opportunity to stand out is available, but it is rather traditional, expensive and somewhat restrictive. 

  South East Asia as a whole is made up of very interesting and varying advertising markets. The reason for is mostly the varying wealth levels from country to country. 

With Internet penetration being rather low in many countries, online media is yet to break out of evangelisation mode, making large online ad budgets very much thing of the future.

In most Asian markets, traditional media is still king, which presents a huge opportunity for new media that can provide significant reach, engagement and measurability. Mobile has long promised to offer a new way for brands to stand out from their competitors and offer a good return on investment (ROI)> However, there is yet to be a must-have product on any media planner/buyer’s list. 

But Asia as a whole provides a great base for making mobile advertising big business.

Statistically, mobile advertising in South East Asia makes a lot of sense, especially as countries like Malaysia have massive mobile penetration of around 130 per cent. 

Indonesia also has a huge market with more than 140 million mobile subscribers. And what makes Indonesia even more interesting is when you compare that mobile penetration to Internet penetration . . . of just 12 per cent. 

This means there are very few options for global brands to spend money on the new media they are used to in other parts of the world, but there is a huge opportunity for the right mobile proposition to attract a significant amount of advertising dollars – and quickly. 

The troubling issue with mobile advertising in many parts of Asia is the amount of damage that has been caused by spammers. It means the biggest task operators face in the region is not necessarily the interest from advertisers, but the pricing structure and, more importantly, the consumer comfort zone for receiving legitimate advertising from trusted brands.

We can bridge the gap between local operators and global advertising agencies and brands to create that comfort zone for receiving ads – and we can educate the subscriber base about mobile advertising. Subscribers can opt in to receive advertising that is relevant to them, in return for airtime credits. By giving a little information about themselves, the subscriber’s profile will evolve and before long, brands can target their ideal audience. 

   Kerstin Trikalitis is CEO, Out There Media. The company is headquartered in Vienna and has subsidiaries in Athens, Los Angeles, Kiev, Sofia and now Singapore.