INM MAGAZINE VOLUME 8 | FEBRUARY 2016
#Technology
The little BIG thing
Parth Gandhe
PGDM 2015-17
NMIMS Hyderabad
A
widespread technological tool, that we don't
usually acknowledge, is that of the short
messaging service and the convenience it
has provided. Two of the major fields that have
benefited the most from SMS are that of marketing
and transactions.
In a country like India, where we have about 1 Billion
mobile phones (Roughly 77% of the total
population), it is vital to realize that not everyone
possesses a smartphone. Therefore, no matter how
many apps a person may develop and push on app
stores, it's the reachability and the scalability that will
be the cornerstone. SMS is factually the first 'killer
app' for any mobile device — something whose
utility is far exceeding than that of a voice call, and
whose mix of simplicity and immediacy helps retain a
very strong foothold even though consumers are
inclined towards more self-expressive or privacyconscious means of a real-time communication.
Analyzing this opportunity, a number of key players
in the market have started pushing bulk messages
and SMS campaigns, for marketing purposes in
addition to security and confirmation functionalities.
“SMS is factually the first 'killer app' for any
mobile device — something whose utility is far
exceeding than that of a voice call, and whose
mix of simplicity and immediacy helps retain a
very strong foothold even though consumers
are inclined towards more self-expressive or
privacy-conscious means of a real-time
communication”.
Imagine yourself waking up to a text from your bank,
reminding you about the last day of submitting your
document proofs that you were supposed to. Next,
you find out that the shoes you ordered online last
night have been dispatched, and would be delivered
soon. As you log in to your Gmail account, you find
out that you have enabled the dual protection lock
and hence you receive an OTP (one-time password)
to log in. En route to your office, you make a cash
withdrawal from an ATM and there is an instant alert
on your phone, regarding the details of the
withdrawal. Mid-day, you get a message from the
airline you are boarding next month for your
vacation stating a reschedule of the flight. In the
evening, on the way back, you get a pop up message
from your favorite apparel store that it is running a
flat 40% discount sale and attached is a coupon code
which you need to redeem the offer.
For us, it goes unnoticed how many times SMS is
actually used as an elemental marketing tool,
especially in sending promo codes and discount
offers adding to brand awareness (Talk about
Jabong, Pizza Hut, Ola etc.). They are also used for
conveying transactional details such as confirmation
of orders or withdrawal of money. SMSs also play a
key role in ensuring data security.
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