The role of earned media in smartphone and applications purchase among youth in Indonesia

Earned Media (Word of Mouth) beats paid media when it comes to Indonesian youth mobile purchases

Revenue from mobile internet usage by Indonesian youth outgrows voice & text

Focus shifts to mobile applications and the role young fans have in ongoing product development

Indonesian Youth Mobile Market Driven by Word of MouthEarned Media (word of mouth recommendation) is more effective a tool to drive handset ownership and purchase in Indonesia for youth than in other countries. 68% of Indonesian youth own their smartphone as a result of a friend’s recommendation, with the remaining 1/3rd being influenced by traditional advertising and marketing. By contrast, the US youth market is evenly balanced between Paid and Earned Media.

Blackberry’s popularity with Indonesian youth draws on its success with Earned Media. We expect Earned Media to become more important in influencing youth choice of handset, operator and brand churn.

Key implications:

http://www.mobileyouthreport.com

68% OF INDONESIAN YOUTH OWN THEIR SMARTPHONE AS A RESULT OF A FRIEND’S RECOMMENDATION

RIM Blackberry: In the last 3 years, RIM has developed a robust beachhead in the Indonesian youth market. Our survey data (available in the Handset Report) shows pronounced support in the 20-29yr female segment. Their ongoing challenge is to focus on building dialogue with these fans and understanding their role in generating Earned Media. In particular, RIM needs to develop a more comprehensive understanding of BBM’s role in youth communication and involve their fans in the longer term product development of messenger services.

Nokia: Nokia has suffered from a “feed-through” disassociation with teen mobile owners (discussed in more depth in the Handset Report). Owners who grew up with Nokia as their first phone in the last decade now reach their late 20s leaving a generation of new mobile owners without the same emotional attachment. Nokia needs to identify key beachheads (10% of their market) of support in the Indonesian youth market starting with those in the late 20s who still generate Earned Media recommendations for the brand. These customers would be most receptive to marketing and co-creation and therefore the best market levers to create lines of influence. Mobile Operators & Application Developers: By 2012, more than 50% of Indonesian youth service revenues will come from data. Mobile internet is fast becoming the de facto access point for Indonesian youth.

Flat rate tariffs are opening up mobile internet for youth but operators need to now engage youth in the process of discovery to turn usage into viable revenues streams. Earned Media (word of mouth) is the main source of application discovery and education for Indonesian youth. Fans comprise 9% of the market but 70% of the aggregate word-of-mouth volume (see Handset Report). Operators and developers need to focus on these most influential youth who play a key role in educating large numbers of their peers as opposed to traditional above the line marketing techniques that commit to the untargeted mass market.

http://www.mobileyouthreport.com