More than 400 executives representing local and foreign businesses, brands, agencies, publishers, and technology companies took part in the 2018 Mobile Marketing Association Forum held in HCM City on Friday to discuss the opportunities and challenges for enterprises from the explosive growth of mobile marketing.

"Shape the Future" covered topics like leadership perspective: how to manage today’s complex marketing landscape; how digital marketing can lead and enrich brand experience introduction; reaching rural mobile consumers; and the secrets to operating successfully on mobile platforms.

Rohit Dadwal, the managing director of the Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific Limited, said mobile phones have drastically changed the way consumers are accessing media content.

This year nearly 50 per cent of Vietnamese who are connected to the internet did so via smartphones, with mobile devices growing to account for 50 per cent of all digital minutes in Viet Nam, and this in turn has profound effects at the business level, he said.

The shift in mobile consumption is shaping the way businesses across sectors are conducting themselves in the marketing world, he said.

Businesses are transforming themselves to embrace and maximise mobile marketing efforts, he said, pointing out that, for instance, video advertising is becoming a key focus for many industry players as online video content consumption increases across all age groups in Viet Nam.

“We are at a juncture where it has become imperative for business to leverage mobile marketing to create a deep, authentic connection with consumers.

“As an industry, we need to look to the future and take charge of shaping the future of not just mobile marketing, but also our businesses.”

According to David Porter, vice president, Global Media, at Unilever Asia, Africa, Middle East, Turkey and Russia, marketing is evolving faster than ever. As a result, it has put tremendous pressure on marketers to rethink their organisational structure to best take advantage of mobile marketing, he said.

“Viet Nam is at the centre of mobile growth.”

Brands have to be prepared to meet customers where they are, they should prepare to have assets really mobile-ready, including optimising websites for small screens with contents repurposed for any screen, pre-aligning creative and media teams to build relevant assets, and understanding viewability, he added.

Delegates said in the context of increasing demand for effectiveness of marketing campaigns from clients, traditional media methods no longer bring maximum value any more, and keeping up with the latest trends in the market is the key for marketers to nimbly meet clients’ needs.

In a fast changing world, marketers tomorrow must be agile and adaptive to understand emerging trends which shape the future of human beings and always be ready to serve consumers in novel, exciting and better ways, they said.

At the forum, Indian firm POKKT released a new report titled The Power of Mobile Gaming in Viet Nam in association with MMA and Decision Lab.

With mobile gaming registering phenomenal growth across multiple demographics in Viet Nam, the largest mobile gaming market in Southeast Asia, advertisers have an unparalleled opportunity to optimise audience engagement and drive higher returns on investments, according to the report.

Participants also heard presentations on the best campaigns from the 2018 Smarties Vietnam Awards.

Phan Bich Tam, country manager, Mobile Marketing Association in Viet Nam, Myanmar and Cambodia, said the annual event provides a good opportunity for participants to network and seek potential partners. — VNS