An increasing number of organizations today are embracing mobile technology as a way to help improve their performance, productivity and even better serve their clients. This trend is being driven by the growing use of simple, accessible and pervasive technology such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops that give people the freedom to work anytime, anywhere.
This is what the Mobile Festival 2013, the country’s first mobile conference-expo held on November 25 at the SMX Convention Center, is all about. With “How Mobile Transforms Businesses,” as its theme, the exposition seeks to bridge the gap between mobile adaptation and mobile commerce through showcasing how the device is transforming the discipline, practices, trends, and lifestyle that go along with today’s business landscape. The event gathered experts from various industries to elaborate further on this rising trend.
“The real opportunity in innovation is in mobile,” shares Hans Roxas-Chua, Co-Chairman for Mobile Festival 2013 and Co-Director of International Institute of Digital Marketing. “Today’s mobile users became mindful in choosing such devices, as they want them as tools that will enhance their personal experience. This paves the way for marketers to realize that mobile is no longer just a fad but a necessary addition to business and marketing strategies.”
Arthur Policarpio, also a Co-Chairman for Mobile Festival and head of Mobext Asia Pacific mentions that mobile commerce is actually further bolstering the ease and convenience brought by e-commerce. “E-Commerce began the revolution and its remarkable footprint is still apparent in how mobile works right now,” he narrates. “And now that the world is going mobile, we might as well look into more options that will help local businesses understand how customers utilize mobile for purchase.”
Arthur Policarpio, Co-Chairman for Mobile Festival and head of Mobext Asia Pacific and Hans Roxas-Chua, Co-Chairman for Mobile Festival 2013 and Co-Director of International Institute of Digital Marketing.
In his speech, Emmanuel Lorenzana, President and CEO of Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., illustrates how wide the adoption and potential of mobile technology is. “Currently, there are 11 million mobile Internet users and this is growing. Thirteen percent of Internet traffic is on mobile and it is believed that this will double in the next couple of years,” said Lorenzana.
“Global mobile data shows that in 2012, 0.9 exabytes went to mobile and five years later, it will grow to 11.2 exabytes. By 2017, there will be almost four billion mobile subscribers, 9.7 billion mobile connections, and 920 million LTE (long-term evolution) connections,” Lorenzana added.
Lorenzana also mentioned that today, mobile is truly the real equalizer for communication, on the way we live, on the way we play, and on the way we learn.
He also said that in building a mobile economy, immense opportunities will be created for everybody and nobody will be left behind. New services will also emerge such as home security and monitoring, connected cars, mobile wallet, mobile health, and mobile and cloud-based business solutions.
Policarpio said that apart from discussing how mobile is transforming businesses, Mobile Festival 2013 is also aiming to bridge the gap between mobile penetration and actual adoption for marketing, retailing, publishing, customer relationship management and business model innovation.
“Filipinos are known for being hyper-social – we Facebook status a lot of things, we do geo-mapping, we tweet information. Basically, we already got our foot in the door, it’s just a matter of educating today’s local businesses further and to change their mindset that we no longer need to be the ones to follow trends. It’s time to establish our own, and the edge is right in the most-used gadget in the country – mobile,” said Policarpio.
The event was powered by Mobile Marketing Academy, the International Institute of Digital Marketing, Mobext, the Philippine Association of National Advertisers, Philippine Retailers Association, Enderun Extension, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies Philippines, the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines, the Certified Digital Marketing Program, and VSERV.mobi; and co-presented by SMART, WeChat, and TV5.
