WE have seen them on TV, billboards, newspapers, and listen to them on radios, but soon advertisements will make it to the short message service (SMS) platform. One company that has created the “engine” to enable this is Metech Solutions Sdn Bhd. Izwan Ismail talks to its founder and chief technology officer Nazri Hussein on how SMS can be an effective

marketing tool.

SHORT messaging service has been known as the killer application in mobile communications for more than a decade now, but nobody or any company has really thought of its potential as a marketing tool. However, for Metech Solutions, the fact that mobile penetration has reached more than 90 per cent in this country and that almost everyone today carries a mobile phone, has triggered an idea that SMS can be used as a platform to deliver advertisements.

For the past two years, the company has been working on the engine that would allow this concept to take off, and in the third quarter of this year, all the hard work resulted in the MySMS4Free platform, an engine which would allow companies or advertisers to target their messages and ads to the audience they want, and specifically the location where they want it.

“This concept is still new and so far has been practised in Australia, but we believe that the trend of Asian people in using SMS more compared to making calls will further boost this SMS advertisement concept,” says Nazri.

How it works. MySMS4Free platform works by giving out free SMS and MMS to people, but to use the free SMS, they will have to register as members, which is also free, at MySMS4Free.com. The SMS and MMS can be sent to any mobile number in the world from PCs and mobile phones with 3G, wireless application protocol (WAP) or general packet radio service (GPRS).

Nazri says the idea is to give members limitless SMS to be sent, but until the company receives some advertisers to put their ads on the platform, the SMS number is currently limited to 10 per day.

“To date, we have 1,000 members, but we are looking at achieving 20,000 members by year-end,” he says.

Explaining the workings of the mobile SMS platform, Nazri says the advertisements will be embedded in the SMS sent. “The advertisements we send with each SMS/MMS are what pays for the SMS/MMS fees, which is paid by the bearer,” he says.

“The only catch is that members cannot use the whole 160-character limit for SMS text, as the platform will need to use part of the space to include ad messages from the sponsors.”

In terms of benefits, on the user side is obviously free SMS or MMS. At the same time, the users get to collect loyalty points and also mobile vouchers from the SMSes they send and receive.

“These loyalty points can be redeemed into mobile vouchers or coupons and users can get special discounts at the participating outlets,” says Nazri.

Via such a method, users will be attracted to go to the participating outlets.

For the advertisers, meanwhile, he says the mobile platform presents a new one-to-one and targeted mobile media platform.

“This means that their campaign or brand messages can be targeted to potentially interested and relevant audience. They can choose who they want to target their ads to and at which area,” he says, adding that the advertisements sent can also be tracked.

“The engine also provides real-time key performance indicator (KPI) tools and reports to ensure each sponsored message will reach the most promising target audience,” says Nazri.

Ensuring privacy. Nazri ensures that the mobile SMS advertisement platform is not a spam. “It’s a one-to-one advertising strategy where the ads are sent to the relevant people who match the target criteria of the ads. Users will not be overwhelmed with unexpected and irrelevant SMS marketing messages,” he says.

He also ensures that Metech will not use any telecommunications companies’ customer database to get its members profiles. “All member profiles will be generated by the members registering at the portal,” he says.

Should the concept become successful in Malaysia, Nazri says Metech would venture into markets like Thailand, Hong Kong and China where SMS usage is very high in the region.