Sandy Agarwal chosen to Top Ten mobiThinkers - Nokia Today

As the mobile Internet takes off, the pioneers in mobile web marketing are emerging. mobiThinking last week announced their first annual Top Ten mobiThinkers list. Our colleague Sandy Agarwal who heads Asia Pacific operations for Nokia Interactive in Services has the honor of being one of the mobile marketing heroes.

Sandy believes that in rural areas where fixed-line telephony is sparse and PCs are only for the wealthy, the mobile will bridge the digital divide. “It’s the most appropriate channel for delivering essential information-based services to help people work and learn, as well as providing entertainment,” he says.  

This vision is encapsulated in the Nokia Life Tools project, which will launch commercially in India in May. Via Nokia Life Tools farmers have access to market prices of supplies and produce, weather and tips of the trade, in several local languages. The service will be paid for through subscription as well as advertising and sponsorship, from local fertilizer and seed companies, as well as multinational brands.

“I think with over four billion people to reach on mobile, often where it is the only screen available and coupled with the ‘engagement factor’ of mobile – marketers must look at mobile as an essential part of their communication strategy. As advertising on mobile grows, consumers can expect more quality services at subsidized costs,” Sandy explains.

“I am humbled by this honor. It is a reflection of the wonderful people I have been privileged to work with over the years and the great company I keep at Nokia”, he says.

Read Sandy’s respected trip in mobile marketing till today and to Nokia at mobiThinking.com.

Also stories of the other Top Ten mobiThinkers behind the link above make for interesting reading. The Top Ten is a cross-section of mobile marketers from different geographies and perspectives, representing all areas of the industry (brands, publishers and agencies alike). The Top Ten was chosen to honor the work and vision of these ten individuals and to inspire every marketer from those brands that are new to mobile marketing.

mobiThinking.com is the marketing arm of dotMobi, the ICANN-appointed global registry for the .mobi top-level domain name – the only domain specifically for the mobile web. dotMobi is backed by fourteen leading mobile and Internet players: Ericsson, Google, GSM Association, Hutchison 3, Microsoft, Nokia, Orascom Telecom, Samsung Electronics, Syniverse, T-Mobile, Telefonica Moviles, TIM, Visa and Vodafone.