Ringback Tone Adverts Hit Indonesia’s Mobiles

Ringback Tone (RBT) advertising is taking off in Indonesia as a prime form of mobile advertising. Biz-Ring now fully launched its RBT-Ads service on mobile phones with Telkomsel operator. RBT adverts replace the dial tone sounds when someone makes a call to a mobile.

Biz-Ring ads were first test-released to mobile phone users in Indonesia two months ago, and have already netted more than 137,000 subscribers. Users who sign up can get free SMS credits and free music ring tones as rewards, as well as a chance to win monthly prizes such as laptops, cell phones, BlackBerry devices, and other prizes.

Biz-Ring was created by PT Kami Kaya Kreasi (3K) in exclusive cooperation with Indonesian mobile operator Telkomsel. This enabled Biz-Ring ads to be broadcast via text message to 11 million Telkomsel users and bring them in as Biz-Ring customers.

While the ads are a new business scheme in Indonesia, this mobile advertising technique has already been implemented in other countries such as the United States, Turkey, India, and Korea.

Ads in your ear

The audio ad is a real attention-getter, and what’s more, it’s cheap and effective as an advertising platform. Lasting for a total duration of ten seconds, people will likely pay attention to the ad content while calling to answer their call, whether they like the sound of it or not.

Penn Olson contacted Biz-Ring, where Antonius Fernandus of their marketing department explained:

For advertisers, the RBT-ads system is very effective and inexpensive, considering that cell phones are the primary communication tool in Indonesia today. As for RBT-ads customers, they become the ads transmitters indirectly with no cost whatsoever, and get benefits from our bonus rewards.

This new business scheme could be a pretty big business in Indonesia, in a similar way to the popularity of musical or funny ringback tones in the country. Considering the growing usage of mobile phones in the country, and intense competition among local telcos, the possibility that more mobile advertising companies will join with other operators in the future is wide open.

[Source : Detik]