IMI Mobile will raise the pitch with Ad-ring

Makes technology to track user behaviour and implement advertising across mobile platforms

MUMBAI: Contextual advertising on mobile phones is still experimental in India and as advertisers mull how to use the mobile platform in their media plans, leading mVAS player IMI Mobile has unveiled the first phase of its Ad-ring mobile advertisement platform.

It is what Vishwanath Alluri, CEO, IMI Mobile, explains as a “business intelligent” platform that will render advertising depending on the individual’s VAS usage patterns.

“For example,” explains Alluri, “a user has subscribed to an SMS-based joke service. Our technology will be able to track when he next subscribes to say, a voice-based joke service. When he does so, we’ll be able to track his usage pattern and our centralised ad server will direct the advertising accordingly.”

So be it any platform — SMS, MMS, voice, WAP portal, caller ring back tone and video streaming — Ad-ring will couple with IMI Mobile’s existing “Da Vinci” managed service delivery platform.

Da Vinci helps IMI Mobile’s customers to understand subscriber usage and behaviour to determine individual requirements and target their services accordingly.

The management information system is further integrated with Ad-Ring to provide detailed subscriber segmentation and targeting data, together with campaign measurement and analysis.

Alluri hopes to use both services to develop multi-format ad campaigns. IMI is planning to launch Ad-Ring commercially in the first quarter of 2008. Although it is still early days in mobile advertising in India, IMI expects it to constitute 10% of an advertiser’s budget in 2 years.

IMI Mobile aggregates content for operators like Cable and Wireless, Vodafone Essar, Airtel and manages the delivery of content for partners like Google and Yahoo. It also manages WAP portals and manages mobile campaigns for media, advertising and enterprise customers like Yahoo!, Sony, Disney and Universal.

c_arcopol@dnaindia.net