Marketing communication in Mobile Industry

Mobile technology is growing at fast pace. The demand for mobile phones is increasing. Due to this there is a surge in the mobile phone manufacturers in the market. In the recent past many mobile manufacturers and service providers have entered the mobile market.

This altogether has resulted in stiff competition and the all the players are coming up with different marketing communication concepts. New and existing service providers and manufacturers are continuously designing the marketing strategy to hold their existing customers and convert the prospects into their customers.

They are coming up with innovative ideas so that they can expand their market increase their market share. In this respect they are giving due weight age to the different forms of advertising and promotion features. To gain a large share of the market they are now offering the communication services at affordable rates. The concept of value added services, MMS, GSM, Bluetooth and various other features in the mobile phones is now gaining importance.

Although the connectivity and networking are still the basic concepts on which the mobiles are sold but the value added services are now the things which are becoming the buzz word among the consumers. And this is what the mobile companies are working on today. They are designing different types of services such as free ring tones; caller tunes MMS services and many more.

The companies are collaborating with the mobile phone manufacturers to reach out to wider range of customers. This way they are able to deliver the latest technology such as global positioning system, Bluetooth, internet connectivity, voice dials, voice messages and many more to their customers.

This not only helps mobile companies to increase their share but also control the switching over of the customers to other service providers; one of the big issues for the mobile companies today. All the companies in the mobile industry today are working on one concept: provide services to the customers at low tariff than that of the competitors and increase the profit by increasing the volume of the consumers.

The companies focus on the services that they deliver and not on the factors that differentiate them from their competitors. They are designing new communication channels so that they can reach to n number of customers. The companies are thus trying to tap the direct as well as indirect channels.

They are designing new sales promotion schemes to strengthen their brand dealership and encourage their dealers to sell their products. Post paid and prepaid connections, lifetime incoming, six months recharge coupons, free caller tunes and different low tariff plans are what the mobile companies are focusing on so that they reach to large number of prospects and provide the services to their customers in a much better way.

Japanese Cell Phones

Move to the market to search for a cell phone and you see them in all sorts of designs, colors, and features. The new sleek, shiny colorful sets with stunning designs and features are all there in the advertisements, newspapers, hoardings and displays and of course with your friends. And when you try to explore the overseas markets you find the difference in technology.

Move down the Akihabara, the Mecca for cell phone freaks in Japan, and you can find range of various brands: Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sharp and many more. There you can find cell phones from US $7 to US $300.

More than three fourth of the population in Japan are using mobile. The technology there is much more advanced. When most of the population in USA and other places use TDMA and analog technology the cellular technology is much advanced in this region.

The flip phones and clamshell handsets are most common with the Japanese population. Such sets have an exterior screen showing the signal, the date and the time, and phone numbers. But when you flip open the cell you can see the TFT screen and a keypad. Some set also have a camera lens. There are number of accessory ports where you can attach the outside accessories to these handsets.

The cell phones are with games which can be broadly classified into two groups: a built in types and the java application types. The java games can be enjoyed by paying a service for them and downloading the games of your choice. They are the more complex type as compared to the built in types and a variety are available to be enjoyed.

• The GPS feature is also provided where the user can download the base map and locate the place where he/ she is located.
• The handsets may have a CCD camera which may be located on the outside or side of the flip handsets.
• Messaging is common and the text messages in the form of sms or e-mails can be send. The emailing is limited to small file sizes yet they form a popular mobile usage character.

There are three dominant service providers in the Japanese market KDDI, DoMoCo, and Vodafone. The services and the fees for the services are different among these service providers. The phones there have CDMA technology. And overseas coverage is provided by some service like AU which is providing limited coverage in certain places.