Etisalat and Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent have joined together in a strategic partnership to launch the first permission-based mobile advertising service in the UAE.

Etisalat’s customers in the UAE will be able to opt-in to receive ads and offers that match their interests from their favourite brands on their mobile phones.

“In today’s wireless world, mobile advertising is now essential to the foundation of any successful marketing campaign,” said Khalifa Al Shamsi, Etisalat’s senior vice president – marketing.

“Prospective customers are using their mobile phones at anytime and from anywhere, hence giving mobile advertising compelling influence over consumer decisions in real-time by feeding them an ad at the most influential moment,” he added.

By covering all the aspects needed to run the mobile advertising service, Alcatel-Lucent removes the complexity of entering a new business by creating an ecosystem in the UAE market made up of key players of the advertising value chain, said Amr El-Leithy, head of Alcatel-Lucent business in the Middle East & Africa.

“Etisalat has always been extremely attentive towards the needs of our valued customers and it is our responsibility to ensure them maximum flexibility in the way they use and enjoy Etisalat’s services,” Al Shamsi continued.

“The opt-in feature of this service gives them the power to decide what advertisements they wish to receive as per their interests and preferences and protects them from receiving undesired promotional messages.”

The mobile advertising model that Etisalat has chosen to penetrate the market with is interactive “Dialogue” ads along with the other messaging service that is available on Etisalat’s nation-wide network.

“Etisalat has chosen interactive and rich Dialogues model in order to penetrate the market faster and to open up the ability for brands to reinforce client relations by creating personalized dialogue messages between them and their customers,” said Al Shamsi.

Ramzy Abouchacra, general manager of media agency Initiative UAE, said: “Brands in every segment now need a mobile strategy because mobile touches everyone, everywhere. Mobile Internet boosts total media usage as it is often accessed in conjunction with other media usage.”

“As mobile has increased the media landscape, marketers now have more opportunities to engage their target audiences at relevant times of the day, in places and at times that other media channels don’t serve as effectively, efficiently or personally. Marketers that can create an app that delivers a fulfilling consumer experience can expect high returns. Apps provide a useful and engaging brand experience for consumers,” he added.

Etisalat and Alcatel-Lucent will work hand in hand to educate the market, engaging with brands, advertising agencies and media houses/sales on various mobile advertising opportunities and digital advertising mix that Etisalat and Alcatel-Lucent will offer via their top of the line advertising solution Optism.

Optism is the permission-based mobile marketing solution from Alcatel-Lucent that bridges the gap between operators and advertisers. Optism is a unique offering that enables mobile operators to create highly responsive, permission and preference-based mobile inventory providing advertisers with easy access to willing and highly targeted audiences.

“A very important note that we need to convey is that all parties within the eco system of mobile advertising i.e. service operator, media agencies/media houses/media sellers, solution provider and customers, have to work closely together to ensure that mobile advertising does not morph into another spam machine much in the same way that e-mail advertising has evolved,” Al Shamsi said.

“We, at Etisalat believe that all parties involved are equally important and hence we are keen to find the right balance between capitalizing on the benefits of mobile advertising and protecting our customers from any spam and therefore make mobile advertising a successful story,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service