Chennai: MMA India, a part of MMA global the leading not-for-profit marketing trade body with heightened focus on the future of marketing, today concluded the 10th edition of SMARTIES 2021. With the 2021 edition, MMA India has established SMARTIES not just as an industry awards property, but a platform recognizing industry pioneers and further strengthening the capabilities of the evolving mobile ecosystem, by unveiling the state of mobile ecosystem in India report and Martech Maturity e-guide, equipping marketers with the right tools to move in the post-pandemic era.
The gala evening featured a line-up of 77 award recipients across 23 categories along with industry-focused categories celebrating achievements and effectiveness in mobile marketing ecosystem. MX TakaTak was recognized as ‘Publisher of the Year’. Mindshare India was awarded as ‘Media Agency of the Year’; Kinnect was awarded ‘Creative Agency of the Year’, while Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. grabbed the esteemed ‘Marketer of the Year’ award. ‘Brand of the year’ went to Ultratech Cement and ‘Enabling technology company of the year’ was bagged by Affle. Award for the new category on ‘Contextual/Native Advertising’, introduced this year was won by Hindustan Unilever Limited/Boost.
Moneka Khurana, MMA India Board Member; Country Head – India, MMA said, “The 2021 SMARTIES India Awards is our 10th edition and a milestone in several ways. We saw a 40% increase in submissions this year and a remarkable shift in use of mobile capabilities, interactivity, and personalised communication. At SMARTIES we are not only celebrating the powerhouse of talent in the industry but also creating benchmark work which inspires the industry as well as showcases new and path breaking opportunities that are shaping the future of marketing”.
A new report titled ‘The Use of Mobile in Digital Marketing Mix’ was unveiled by MMA in collaboration with WARC at the evening gala. The report analyses mobile marketing capabilities, growth in m-commerce and social marketing, and impact of technologies such as AI, IoT, ML & voice on improving marketing efficiency.
Key highlights include:
- Two third (69%) marketers have adopted mobile-first approach – a 10% increase since 2020 demonstrating mobile marketing’s growing position in the greater modern marketing picture
- 55% marketers use engagement metrics followed by business metrics (51%) to measure mobile effectiveness in 2021
- 75% marketers are expecting an increase in mobile budgets in 2021 – a 20% increase since 2020 led by social media and m-commerce technologies
- Social media leads in marketers’ (86%) strategy, followed by mobile web display (50%) and in-app display (47%). 56% Indian consumers engage with social media ads – highest amongst any country.
- 89% respondents agree that mobile plays a significant role in purchase journey. With e-commerce boom, 82% marketers have accelerated their m-commerce capabilities and 81% are embarking on shoppable media which is becoming a business avenue
- 62% marketers believe that ‘death of cookie’ will significantly impact marketing strategies. Furthermore, ad fraud continues to hinder mobile growth for 33% marketers followed by consumer privacy concerns and metrics (25%)
- Nearly 37% marketers are spending more than a quarter of their budget in martech, while 35% are spending less than 10%
- With 37% marketers using AI & ML capabilities in 2021 – 42% expect these to be the top technologies over the next two years, followed by IoT (25%) and voice (24%)
“As more businesses recognize the value of mobile and modern marketing, creating outstanding campaigns becomes crucial. The SMARTIES Awards encourages marketers and agencies to think outside the box. Year after year, the standards and creativity displayed continue to astound us. I also believe that the SMARTIES serves as an excellent springboard for new ideas, which we will see evolving in the coming years,” added Amit Jain, Managing Director, L’Oréal India and Chairperson of MMA India Board.
Hemant Malik, Divisional Chief Executive – Foods, ITC Limited and Jury Chair at SMARTIES 2021 stated, “In this year’s edition I have seen some incredible work done. I was impressed by how each of the winners leveraged mobile as a platform to drive business objectives. This year we witnessed never done before approaches inspired by new behavioural consumer journeys. I applaud the winners who truly deserve the Smarties recognition – an appreciation of pioneering work done to shape the future.”
MMA with Hansa Cequity launched a ‘Modern Marketer’s e-guide to Martech Maturity’ outlining martech maturity levels across sectors, understanding the current tools, the gaps with insights on governance of martech stacks and skilling best practices.
