DISCOVERING THE POTENCY OF MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKING IN DEVELOPING MARKET ECONOMIES with a focus on Africa. (The Revolution will be ‘mobil’-ised)

This is a position paper which I submitted to W3C recently...

“The impact of mobile devices in emerging markets has shown the technological growth equal to the power of a tsunami!” (Gloria Ruhrmund)
“African communities are serious about business, serious about community and economic development, serious about acting out their self-interests.....”(Thuso – www.izania.com)
“Mobile phones seem to be a profound competitive force in developing countries and to have in many cases started the impact on socio-political aspects of these nations” (J.Hamilton)

When the entire developed world is connected to Brad Pitt by six degrees, there will still be a chasm where the largest untapped social networks are reeling to connect to each other and the global markets in the same way. Africa has renewed hope for their aided emancipation via mobile technologies with a profound level of economic, political and social development. Why is this so?

The Mobile device is a tool of intervention for Social, Economical and Political Development in developing countries.

CONTEXTUALISATION OF THE AFRICAN AS A NATURAL USER OF MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKS.
What can be learnt from Africa and its ability to turn the unlikely into a working business model? How does the African philosophy of UBUNTU predispose these people to social networking? How do fundamental needs of people make for the greatest social networking opportunities with meaningful development as a bonus outcome? Could airtime threaten the cash-based economies of Africa?

1. SELF EDUCATING AND THE POWER OF VERBAL KNOWLEDGE – formal Education vs. word of mouth in the uptake of MSN.
2. On UBUNTU – it is one of the core philosophical concepts and organizational principals of Bantu speaking peoples. It is a philosophy of being, wholeness, verbalness, of doing and has at once the characteristics of simultaneous multi-directional motion. (A network)
3. Globalisation generates and feeds the concepts of citizenship and nationality – both a paradox and contradiction when aligned with my intention for mobile social networks - yet UBUNTU extends beyond original cultural boundaries and mobile technology can serve as the vehicle for the transmission of cultures.
4. Already in Africa the mobile phone has created a new ubiquitous currency – Airtime! Known to be exchanged as payment for petrol: How can MSN add benefits to other ‘informal’ economic systems? Could mobile micro-payment systems replace cash-based financial systems?
5. The reality of a mobile revolution “may have few takers but one should not imagine that the world’s poor will remain cowed or passively accept their poverty….A world of wealth and poverty, with appalling and widening differences in living standards between the richest and the poorest nations, is unlikely to be secure or stable.” (Hirst, P and Thompson, G Globalisation in Question)
6. EXAMPLES OF MSN applications in Africa: Pre-paid salary cards for the un-bankable; Inclusionary HR solutions (stress management or well being programmes); Agriculture; Limiting the middle man between production location and end market; counseling of drug addicts and gangsters to uplift violence in communities, crime prevention, gender applications; voting mobilization; Education; health services etc

CONCLUSION: TRUE POSSIBILITY

It is my belief therefore that not only is there an opportunity to invest in mobile social networking as a business in Africa, but as a renewed effort for governments, NGO’s and other CSI partners to really take their land-based efforts to another level. To take Africa out of its marginalised global status and to facilitate actualization through mobile networks. For African Governments themselves to develop each community in their country towards a positive, productive and outstanding territory by fusing the most modern technology with their natural predisposition of UBUNTU and networking. No other time in history is true democratisation, development and emancipation been possible - USE IT!

Economic Slowdown and Social Media

Predictors of marketing trends this year all agree on the growth in the use of social media. Economists all agree that this year, a major global and local slowdown will be the most significant cause of business failure and that in this landscape, social media counts as one of the most viable marketing resources offering clients and brands better ROI in quantity and quality.

A lot of companies and traditional marketing agencies may be wondering first of all, what exactly constitutes social media. I apologise in advance if this is patronising, but I have experienced firsthand that many are reading articles and not really understanding the reference to social media. Most already believe that they are effectively using mobile marketing for instance, just because they ran a competition with a SMS entry mechanism.

But herein lies what I believe to be the underlying principal of social media. It’s a concept known as ‘attention economics’. The premise to this concept is that ‘people attention’ has an economic value but is a scarce commodity which in turn is desired by those selling consumer goods and services. This principal has already been extensively used and was surely the underlying driver for making the internet free, because in return for millions of users/eyeballs an entire economic system developed. In mobile things have thankfully been a little different, since it has always purported an economic value to the use and exploitation of its networks.

How ‘attention economics’ underlies social media? If one is able to satisfy the proponents of attention economics - the intangible products - then one is engaged in effective social media. Offering marketing strategy that brings the user immediacy, desired information, accessibility, personalization, authenticity, reciprocity and patronage are the keys to engaging your company, brand, product or service in the attention economic system. Those stakeholders who can do this properly are richly rewarded with rich relationships with their customers, higher return on marketing spend and loyalty, not to mention the fall outs of these rewards i.e. referrals, testimonials, viral growth etc.

2009’s economic slowdown should be making marketers think how better to use their budgets. Social media applications and services cost around the same as a small TV campaign and last long after that un-measurable TV ad has flighted. Social media products are customisable and once set up can be changed on the fly, in mid stream for little more investment.

For me though the most powerful thing about using social media is that ironically it is personalising and democratising customer relationships and interrelationships like never before. Sometimes I wonder to myself if this aspect is what terrifies marketers most? They would actually find out what their customers REALLY think of their products and services!