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The Secret of My Success Q&A with Dr KF Lai, founder and CEO, BuzzCity

Dr KF Lai is founder and CEO of global mobile advertising network BuzzCity which celebrates its 15th year in business with expected revenues in excess of $25 million for 2014. Dr Lai started his career in government research and used his entrepreneurial skills to launch the business at a time when the mobile advertising landscape was in its infancy. Each quarter BuzzCity analyse global trends in the mobile marketplace utilising the vast data amassed from its audience of more than 500 million unique mobile users that are surfing the internet with smartphones. The BuzzCity advertising network delivers 30 billion advertising banners to its global audience every month.

Dr Lai shares his unique insights and experience of the mobile advertising sector.

How did you start the company?

I started the company in 1999. I was a researcher in a government funded institute and was playing around with pattern recognition and text retrieval. When the dotcom fever hit and we were offered a chance to spin out the company and we took the plunge.

Why did you decide to go into the mobile advertising market?

In 2007, we observed a clear growth trend on mobile Internet through a mobile community site that we were operating. There were also increased demands for our referral program to third-party mobile sites to increase their traffic. We tweaked our web-based pay-per-referral program into one based on mobile Internet and cost-per-click, and the BuzzCity Network was born.

What was the market like at that time in terms of brand presence/ activity?

Mobile entertainment companies were the early adopters of mobile advertising, and they could see a direct correlation between mobile promotional activities and the adoption of their services, which were mobile-based. As penetration of Internet-friendly phone increases, brands realize that they have to adapt to the changing media consumption pattern. Today most brands no longer ask “why mobile”, but “how”.

How has the technology changed?

Prices of smart-phones have breached the U$100 level, and are closing in on U$50. This dramatically increases the uptake of mobile Internet in the emerging markets. At the same time, it also causes more fragmentation, as manufacturers of low-cost smartphones find it necessary to tweak or fork the operating system to their advantage. It is important to help advertisers and publishers to manage this fragmentation in ways that are simple and scalable, and yet be able to deliver innovative branding message through the medium.

What is the most exciting global market emerging today?

In my view, the most exciting markets are in the emerging or developing world. The usage of mobile Internet is increasing rapidly, and dramatically altering the socio-economic landscape. These include South East Asia, India, Africa, Middle East and Latin America.

What piece of advice would you have told yourself 15 years ago?

Identify a small handful of needs, and address them well. One cannot solve all the problems at one go. So, saying “No” is the most important skill to learn.

About BuzzCity

BuzzCity is a mobile advertising network that offers brand owners and agencies access to a global display network of publishers. As a leading international player, BuzzCity has developed in-depth knowledge of the mobile consumer and provides marketers with clear opportunities to reach this audience via its advertising and publisher programmes. The network also offers opportunities for publishers, developers and owners of mobile media properties to monetise their traffic through mobile internet advertising.

The latest BuzzCity quarterly report includes a spotlight on mobile banking adoption and reveals mobile users’ attitudes towards it. In the first quarter of 2014, mobile advertising grew by 15% as value added services began the year aggressively promoting Video, News and Mobile TV across various operator networks globally.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by BuzzCity .