The first mobile Filipino emerged in 1991, when cellular mobile phone services were launched. Since then, mobile Filipinos earned for the country several titles, namely the world’s “text/SMS capital,” “social networking capital,” and most recently the “selfie capital.”
Mobile phones have overtaken the population. By end 2015, smartphones are expected to grow by 40%, outnumbering feature phones. Today, the smartphone is probably the most accessible, but least maximized platform in advertising. Through Epinion’s 27,076 robust online panel of netizens, Omnicom Media Group (OMG) discovered uniquely Filipino –ick factors in mobile advertising.
Says OMG CEO Mary Buenaventura, “Our goal was to identify behaviors or ‘ick’ factors, whether positive or negative, that Filipinos have toward mobile, and align them with corresponding behaviors and preferences that advertisers can leverage to engage the mobile Filipino. The results were an eye opener – Filipinos are not only dependent on mobile, the rise of smartphones will make us even more so.”
