The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has established a South Africa Council to lead the creation of guidelines and best practices and educate and evangelize on the mobile channel in South Africa. The Council will initially be chaired by Rick Joubert, Vodacoms Head of Mobile Advertising, and brings together 16 MMA member companies. The South Africa Local Council joins the recently-launched India and UK Councils, and other local European bodies in Spain, Ireland, Germany and Austria.
The founding members of the local council have agreed the immediate priorities and initiatives in South Africa, which are to ensure the implementation of existing MMA creative and technical standards and recommending adaptation for local market conditions where appropriate; measurement and tracking, including the publisher landscape, quantifying available inventory volume and value, tracking brand and category investment; and escalation in the evangelism and promotion of mobile as an important marketing medium for South African brand managers and advertising agencies
According to the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA), the mobile channel now represents almost 50% of all spend on direct marketing in South Africa, and with over 35 million mobile subscribers, the region represents a clear opportunity for the mobile marketing industry.
The MMA considers local programmes such as this to be fundamental to maintaining mobile marketing momentum in regional markets; establishing a range of diverse initiatives that will help grow the mobile opportunity for everyone involved, says MMA President, Laura Marriott.
The South Africa Local Council founding member companies are:
AdMob, Brandsh Media, Capital Supreme (Pty) Ltd t/a Multimedia Solutions, Celerity Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a Bulk SMS, Cellsmart Technologies, Clickatell, Google, GroupM, Habari Group Media Direct, Microsoft (MSN and Windows Live), Mobiclicks, OgilvyOne Worldwide, One Digital Media, RingCo, SilverstoneCIS, and Vodacom.
For information on how to participate in the Local Council in South Africa, please contact the MMA membership team at: [email protected]