In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, mobile OEM advertising has rightfully emerged as a formidable force, particularly in branding campaigns.

Brand value and branding is big business, and can have a direct impact on the success and long term sustainability of a company or product.

The rise of mobile OEMs and mobile OEM advertising within the last decade, especially in India with brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo Vivo, Transsion, OnePlus and Realme, is a testament to its growing power.

Branding initiatives have played a large part in elevating the stature of the world’s 100 most valuable brands this year; they stood at over US$5 trillion. While digital branding will account for 60% of all global marketing budgets in 2024, India and other APAC regions will see  a 15% increase in brand spending by 2025.

Marketers aiming to expand their reach and recognition must understand mobile OEM’s branding offerings, contrasting branding and performance campaigns, and the key metrics that signify success in branding campaigns.

Creating and enhancing brand awareness and recognition becomes more crucial for businesses introducing new products or aiming to capture new customer segments.

While, a whopping 9 in 10 consumers claim brand loyalty as a crucial factor when making purchase decisions, 59% of consumers prefer spending money on new products and services from brands they are familiar with. 8 in 10 consumers require trust in a brand before spending money with that brand. Being able to maintain a consistent brand presence across platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.

Loyalty and trust are two golden words!

With 77% of marketing leaders believing that a strong brand is critical to their growth plans, is it any wonder that more and more companies are focusing their marketing efforts on branding?

Branding comes with its own set of unique challenges – building and maintaining customer trust, maintaining consistency across channels, standing out in a saturated market, and measuring branding campaign ROI (return on investment), among others.

Mobile OEM advertising addresses and negates these challenges (and more). One of the significant advantages of branding with mobile OEMs is its ability to reach potential customers who aren’t as fatigued and have not been as exposed to traditional digital ad channels like Google, facebook or social media ads.

Leveraging mobile OEM advertising can help marketers deliver powerful branding experiences – let’s understand how.

Making it work

By placing ads within the mobile OEM ecosystem and their alternative app stores which operate outside the traditional environments of search and social, is beneficial for reaching audiences in untapped markets. Mobile OEM heavy markets such as India and Southeast Asia, and “Google-free” zones, offer a fresh and less competitive advertising landscape where a campaign can stand out.

The sophisticated targeting capabilities of mobile OEMs beyond simple geographic and demographic parameters to include appographic targeting such as app category and user behavior; ensures that the ads are not only reaching a broad audience but are also relevant to the viewers, thereby increasing the potential for brand engagement.

Mobile OEMs offer lower Cost Per Thousand Impressions or Mille (CPM) and Cost Per Click (CPC) rates compared to other channels allowing marketers to achieve higher reach without proportionately higher advertising costs.

With Mobile OEMs advertisers can be rest assured that all clicks, views and engagements are coming from actual users, whilst ensuring their campaigns are in a clean, brand safe environment, away from anything unsavory.

One unique aspect of branding with mobile OEMs which also contrasts that of performance and user acquisition campaigns, is the fact that any brand, regardless of the presence of an app, can leverage branding campaigns with it to increase their reach and mindshare amongst consumers. It all simply boils down to the goals of the branding campaign. The branding campaign will focus on bringing exposure to a brand’s specific need.

This is done via multiple touchpoints throughout the user journey including but not limited to a lock screen ad; an ad in the phone’s newsfeed which seamlessly integrates with the news feed itself; a  splash ad which shows up when the user launches one of the OEM system apps such as the clock, video or music app and a push notification ad.

All of these various ads serve to keep the branding campaign at the top of mind with users, engaging with them throughout their use of their device. These ads seamlessly integrate into the software and user experience, without getting in the way.

Time to brand up

As mobile marketing and advertising continue to evolve, branding through Mobile OEM advertising presents a unique and effective channel for businesses to extend their reach and solidify their brand presence in the minds of new customers.

Leading mobile marketing companies specializing in Mobile OEM advertising lend companies access to a potent tool that marries cost-efficiency with extensive reach, all while targeting fresh audiences ready to engage with new brands.

As the digital space gets increasingly crowded, such innovative and extensive approaches to branding will become more crucial in this competitive market landscape.