The Economist has recently reported in “Marketing a Missed Call” that 65% of mobile phone users prefer a missed call notification over a quick dial through call. Mobile advertising in India greatly differs from more urban countries, western cultures or any smart technology advertisements we have seen. I think that the Indian mobile market best exemplifies the importance of STP in their marketing strategies.
Demographically and psycho-graphically, India is very religious and people of the country strictly abides by cultural and traditional customs. Self-concepts come from their traditional values, language and religion. Their target lifestyle is also greatly influenced by familial traditions due to arranged marriage and religious practices. Therefore, the mobile advertisements may lean towards appealing to their cultural traditions rather than portraying a modern and affluent western lifestyle.
Furthermore, electronic verbal and non-verbal languages differ depending on the culture, gender, age and occasion. When understanding the consumer preferences, mobile companies need to learn the social language trends in India. For example, a missed call in India serves as an alarm or reminder instead of a simple notification that someone has called. People intentionally drop a call to convey messages like “thinking of you” or “call back soon”. Some service providing companies take advantage of this communication system as well. Once a customer’s call gets automatically dropped, they would follow up with a text message that clearly outlines new product offers and promotions. These advertising techniques show the combination of using attitude and learning to create a marketing strategy. Therefore, I think mobile companies now have the benefit of creating new marketing campaigns due to a growing popularity in consumers for preferring missed calls over texting (exemplifying attitude). Consumers are also learning how dropped calls notifies companies to send back useful information. This creates opportunities for food, clothing, electronic retailers to generate creative and attractive advertisements through the “missed call” platform rather than traditional billboards and posters.
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