O2 and Orange are the first UK mobile operators to offer advertisers access to subscribers who have given their permission to be sent marketing messages.  Does this open up a new channel for mobile advertising spend?

… the editorial continues:

O2 and Orange are rapidly building opted-in databases, with members giving a range of personal information in return for highly targeted ads and offers.  Results are impressive, with click-through rates often well into double figures.”

It’s a view shared by Blyk, which after abandoning its own MVNO based on permission-based marketing, now runs Orange Shots.  Blyk UK Country Manager, Alex Franks says that when people are asked to respond by pressing just one button on their phone, rates of 20-40 % are common and click-through to mobile websites is typically 5-10 %.

He claims one in four people who received a promotional MMS for the film Leap Year said they subsequently went to see it, and nearly 40 % of ad recipients downloaded a free Snickers wallpaper.  If these results are replicated over time, it could put mobile operators in a very favourable position and make sure they’re not a spectator as mobile ad revenues take off.

“The internet giants own search and the major content owners and social media networks will dominate in mobile display advertising”, says Franks. “Mobile operators have the benefit of an existing relationship with the subscriber.  They already know things such as their age, gender and handset, as well as, increasingly, their location, although that’s not used for targeting yet.  If you can get people to tell you what they’re interested in as well, that’s amazingly powerful and will ensure the mobile operators control opt-in, targeted messaging based advertising”.  He reveals work is under way to extend Orange Shots beyond the Orange Monkey pay-as-you-go tariff and expects it to be rolled out to T-Mobile customers as part of the Everything Everywhere merger.

For the full article, please visit www.nma.co.uk

We know Blyk had in the UK an average response of 25% on the messages they send out. The fact that we communicate through messaging, with the same mechanism the young people themselves prefer, explains this high response. Responding to our messages is close to their way of communications and natural behaviour on their mobile. The fact that messaging is the communication tool #1 for the young was again supported by an American research done by ChaCha. 1500 young people in the States were asked about their favourite way of communication – 68% said SMS was the #1. Calling was chosen by 10%, Facebook was by 9%, Instant Messaging like MSN by 3% and 0,3% said email was their favourite way to communicate with others.

When going live in The Netherlands we had 20 advertising partners who wanted to reach youngsters through Blyk. Just a selection of them: Nike, Universal Pictures, Sony Music, Electronic Arts, Domino’s Pizza and Cosmopolitan. Creating the first Blyk campaigns for The Netherlands with our own creative team here in Amsterdam was exciting. We gratefully used the knowledge from the successful campaigns the Blyk UK team had made. Just to share with you a few examples of the messages that we’ve sent out, to get an idea on how we are communicating with the Dutch Blyk members, here are a few peaks into the Blyk messaging in The Netherlands.

Bankgiroloterij

Bankgiroloterij, Dutch lottery, promoted a beach concert for which Blyk members could win free tickets. We asked our members if they would like to see a trailer of the concert and have a chance to win free tickets.

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan sent out a message related to a topic they also use in their magazine: Hot or Not? The question was simple: Sarah Jessica Parker. Hot or not? ^Y/N. This was definitely the hottest message we sent out because it had the highest response rate so far in The Netherlands.

Fifa World Cup and Electronic Arts

The fact that we can specifically time our mobile campaigns was used in the first 2 weeks of the World Cup. For example, we sent out this message just before the start of the game of the Dutch team against Cameroon: “Would you like to support the Dutch team using your mobile as a vuvuzela? ^Y/N” Almost all members replied Y and received an audio MMS with the real vuvuzela sound to use during the game. Big fun!

Another example on was the Electronic Arts and the promotion of their Fifa 2010 World Cup game. This campaign was sent on the day The Netherlands played their first World Cup Game. One third of the responses we got were sent within 10 minutes. To be honest with you the message we send out was more attractive that the game we saw that day.

And what has been the response on the messages so far? We know the response on the messages we’re sending is massive compared to online click through. And also in the Netherlands, so far more than half are responding to our messages. But we’re just started so I don’t want to shout it out, just yet.

Contact us to learn more and to advertise on Blyk Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, at the moment, about 450,000 iPhones are sold. Compared to the approximately 21 million active SIM cards that’s a share of 2.1%. But let’s compare apples with apples. Gartner has made an overview of the global terminal sales in first quarter of 2010. Nokia is still a bestseller with a 35% market share followed by Samsung (20.6%) and LG (8.6%). RIM (Blackberry) does not exceed 3.4% and Apple at 2.7% worldwide.

Source: Palm Infocenter

I was attending CommunicAsia 2010 – a monster conference and exhibition designed to bring together broadcasters, operators, media agencies and technology businesses all with an interest to share and learn from each other and, of course, to sell to each other.

I was sharing a platform with a number of mobile luminaries including Michael Becker, President of MMA USA, and Russell Buckley, VP, Global Alliances of Admob – soon to be Googlemob no doubt. Thanks to Rohit Dadwal who leads the MMA in Asia and who ably chaired the day which was wholly focused on Mobile marketing. The highlight talk of the afternoon session was a great insight into the thinking of a top tier media planning business delivered by Shashank Tripathi of Publicis giant Starcom MediaVest. He presented a very clear opportunity slide but also set the challenge to the mobile solution sellers about how to ensure their own business made it to the final buying plan. We should all take note.

The story from most was a simple one – In Asia the phone beats the pc – by a factor of 4 to 1 and the result is a marketing channel that can be personalised, private and welcomed by consumers. Now those that have followed Blyk will be aware that this theme is something we have proven in the UK and will do so in Netherlands and India too by year end. Ads are great if they are contextually relevant on a 1-1 basis.

Young consumers today continually prove that they are open to have communications with brands. We have all witnessed brand creep into social networking. Indeed gazillions of blog sites alongside Facebook, MySpace and their global cousins are full of companies trying to get into our lives through building conversations, fan groups and discussion forums. [* As an aside become a master of ‘social network marketing’ and you are sure to have a fat pay packet month after month for the next 10 years.]

But equally consumers are smart – sure, they are open for dialogue with your brand but be afraid if you step over the mark and misplace their trust.

And that’s the point.

All relationships require trust if they are to be genuine and long term. We tell our children to be honest in order to build this foundation of trust. Though shall not lie – this aspect of basic human nature doesn’t stop at graduation – indeed it carries on throughout our lives from University, to first employer and on to marriage.

At Blyk we believe that starting from a point of transparency is key to building success – so we ask our members to tell us about themselves – a name, age, location, work status, education status and then as much as they want about what they like and what they don’t. Using this information we can ensure that any communication from us or from a brand is only served to those that have a match. We ensure we tell our members what the deal is upfront in plain text – We are open and honest about the service we offer and what we do with the information we collect. And it works.

Respecting the changing needs of consumers is equally important – it’s a fast world and we shouldn’t be surprised if what is ‘hot’ today is ‘not’ tomorrow. The mobile marketing world is full of armies of data analysts all tracking ‘historical’ activity through Wifi addresses, Mac codes and the content servers databases.

And that’s the second point.

Data is best fresh – so knowing the state of mind of a consumer at the point of exposure has to be the most effective way to market yourself doesn’t it? Fresh data gives you the best and most up to date picture of an individual – Sure the historical analysis can give you a core of knowledge but nothing beats a simple question to open up a dialogue. Messaging allows that which is why 25% will respond to a message but only 1% might click on your banner.

Finally lets take a moment to consider privacy – It is everyone’s individual right to set their own limits.

And that’s the third point.

Some people, like our dear friend Nalden in the Netherlands – is a digital native, a serial blogger and a man who likes to share most things with most people. Check his site out later. In setting his own privacy settings he is sending us a message he is open to the digital world. Open for conversation, open for invitation and open to all.

Others are way more private – choosing to stay in the digital shadows. And that is ok – respecting the individual privacy stands you in good stead to get engagement when these guys are open for a conversation. However most online companies digitally stalk this group via cookie tracking – we call it stealth marketing and for sure its a billion $ business globally. Its one way to do it, but not the best way.

And privacy is tomorrow’s currency. So to the companies freely distributing lists of mobile numbers your time is up – it’s no longer acceptable to buy, sell and then spam the digital community. When you are tempted please think of elephants. The digital native never forgets.

I am excited by South East Asia – by the places, the diverse individual cultures and the sheer scale of ambition present everywhere you turn. My father was right – it is the new land of opportunity but please keep it open, personal & private.

The event was titled “The Needle in the Haystack: Finding real insight amid the growing pile of subscriber data.” In the Valley it is difficult to think anything hotter than mobile advertising at the moment – nascent apps market is taking off and companies like Apple, Google and Nokia have launched hundreds of over-the-top services to establish a relationship directly with mobile subscribers. And everybody is collecting that gold dust – consumer data. But do companies really know how to use the data? 
Scott Ellison,
VP Mobile & Wireless
, IDC was moderating the discussion (and also gave his good insights to the discussion). Alongside myself the other panelist were Dan Nguyen, VP, Products, Openwave; and James Lamberti, VP Business Development, InMobi.

Our evening revolved around 4 identified, critical questions:

1) Who has key mobile user information – is it always the operator? Where does that information sit?

There seems to be a lot of opinions that operators no longer are the only gate-keepers to that information. Apps and other non-operator dependent services are more and more efficiently collecting valuable data. My view? I still think that operators are in best position to leverage their customer data, if they only would do it properly.

2) Mobile users create billions of information crumbs every day – and all data is not equal – so what information types do you think might offer new and unique value to brands and advertisers?

Location, location, location is one opinion. Time and place, behavioral information. And so on. But what really matters is HOW contextual that information is vis-à-vis the usage of it. If you know who is considering of changing a car, that is very contextual information to car dealers. My view? I embrace the contextual information. And mobile will change the way we market things to people.

3) Key advice to offer our audience?

Start now. Don’t wait until everything is ready in mobile advertising and marketing. Just do it. My view? I could not agree more. Put aside a good budget for mobile marketing, it is the only way to learn and to be ahead of your competition in the long run.

4) The title of the session was “Finding The Needle in the Haystack” – what would that “needle” be?

Find and collect data that matters to you. And most importantly – get access to those consumers.

I have to admit that sometime my views can be a bit European when it comes to mobile and advertising, but there is no doubt in my mind that Silicon Valley is really catching up and very soon (if not already) many companies and operators elsewhere will only see the backlights of new generation of mobile advertising&marketing innovations created there. And most of them are based on innovative use of consumer data.

The Netherlands is an obvious territory for Blyk’s expansion as it has the third highest advertising spend per capita in Europe. It’s also a country where the advertising industry and advertisers are open for new creative and effective consumer touchpoints.

The consumer proposition includes 1.000 free SMS 1.000 free Blyk-to-Blyk minutes per month. Blyk is targeted to the young people of 16 – 29 years and subscriptions are based on a membership (opt-in, profiled).  Members need to have a SIM-lock free, MMS capable mobile phone. The messages the members receive will be both branded and non-branded. Blyk’s launch advertiser partners include local and global brands e.g. Nike, Beachmasters, Universal Pictures, McDonald’s, Pearle and Electronic Arts. The non-branded messages may include various entertainment, polls and riddles.

Blyk is invite only. The members can join through special invite codes which are hidden on the Blyk website, Blyk blog and Nalden. Once a member is on Blyk, he will receive a personal invite code. For every 3 members that join Blyk with that personal invite code, Blyk gives one month of free mobile internet to the owner of that code

The motto of the Blyk launch is “Blyk loves freedom. Do you?^”.  Through seven Random Acts of Freedom young people across the Netherlands are surprised with free things. This week Blyk surprised the first lucky ones in Utrecht with a free lunch or a free pair of shoes. The reactions are overwhelming!
Through social media as Twitter, Facebook and Hyves we are giving hints when and where the next Act of Freedom will take place.

The launch of Blyk was great news to the media. All major “traditional” media (TV, radio, print) were paying a lot of attention to this unique proposition. And of course Blyk was a hot topic on the internet. The first one to pick it up was Twitter, quickly followed by all other consumer and trade sites like de Telegraaf, Volkskrant, Algemeen Dagblad, Emerce, The Guardian and Mobile Marketing Magazine.

This all is just the beginning of a beautiful journey. And of course we will update you during our journey

Peggy Anne Salz, Editor and Chief Analyst of MSearchGroove, spoke with Blyk’s CEO and Co-Founder Pekka Ala-Pietila a couple of days ago about the NL launch, UK update and overall trends in the mobile advertising and mobile messaging market. We believe, that messaging will continue to dominate, but see opportunities beyond messaging that spill into app advertising and notifications.  Today, Peggy discussed the launch progress with Eric Kip, Managing Director of Blyk Netherlands. Read more here.

The service will bring the exciting Blyk brand and innovative media model to consumers and advertisers in the Netherlands and it is aligned to both companies’ strategies for growth and leadership in mobile advertising.

MMA, Silicon Valley, Palo Alto

Tue 11 May, 2010
Antti Öhrling participating in Mobile Spotlight Series panel.

Communic Asia, Singapore

Wed 16 June, 2010
Chris Bennett speaking in Mobile Marketing and Advertising stream about “Fresh Thinking – Messaging, Contextuality and ROI – Drivers for Effective Mobile Advertising”.

Contact

For more information, and to set up a meeting, please contact press@blyk.com with your name, company, contact information and your question.

“I would take it one giant step further: messaging lays the groundwork for a much deeper – and potentially lucrative — exchange between a wide array of companies, advertisers and institutions, and the people who want to hear what they have to say. Brands want a dialogue with their consumers. What better and more effective way to achieve this than messaging?”

Read more on how new approaches to messaging can add real value.

“We think most of the mobile advertising really sucks…We thought we might be able to make some contributions.”

Interesting rhetoric as always, but let’s examine a bit more in detail, what’s this all about. He continued:

“We have figured out how to do interactivity and video content without ever taking you out of the app. People will be a lot more interested in clicking on these because they don’t have to find their way back to the app.”

Now this is interesting. It is the first time that someone from Silicon Valley is publicly stating something that the rest of the world already knows; why on earth would anyone stop using an application just to click on a banner ad they did not request? The fact that in iPhone user has had to close the app to watch an ad has truly been an obstacle. The new solution in OS 4.0 is merely fixing this serious flaw. But is it enough?

Mobile banners have inherently a very low click-through rate

Mobile banners have a low click-through rate and they are getting lower all the time as more banners are served to people. And to make things even worse, many of those clicks could be done by error. Mobile advertising is completely different compared to on-line advertising. In mobile environment context is king, not just content.

But you should never interrupt the primary function of the phone. And using applications belongs to that category. And there’s the challenge for advertising within apps – whereas messaging based, well executed, relevant and contextual advertising reaches extremely high response rates as Blyk has proven. An average response rate of over 25% is more than 100 times achieved in banner advertising. So how much improvement to banner advertising in apps should we expect from this new Apple opening? It is hard to say, but one thing is sure – unless mobile advertising within an application is not contextual and highly relevant, it does not really matter whether the advertising is embedded in OS or not.

In their strategy Apple will control both the applications and sell & host the ads. This will give them an opportunity to develop their skills in order to increase relevancy and engagement. How far they can progress remains to be seen.

Context switch remains the biggest hurdle for ads in apps

There is one very interesting line in Apple’s last week presentation:

“Ads keep you in your App.”

Beside of being clever piece of copywriting, is it anything more?

Let’s presume that you are using an application, e.g. 7.0 Megapixel Camera (one of the top apps currently), and a new iAd is shown in within that application. How likely you are to click through to an ad? Well, I guess it depends how relevant it is, but it has to be quite relevant and fit perfectly in the context of your usage in order to succeed in that. It is easier to image advertising within apps that merely kill downtime or are not mission critical. The further away you move from simple functional apps to more there is challenge to the advertisers. What is the true profile of your audience, how well your brand fits to them? How relevant is the engagement? Do the target audience that interacts with your ad actually buy your product?

But even those successful ads within apps still create a context switch. It means that the users will need to detach their mind from the app, shift it to the ad and then vice versa. And this interruption is something that belongs to last millennium in advertising. Apple declared that they aim to serve a billion ad impressions per day. They did not say what kind of response rates they expect, something that in my view is crucial in mobile advertising. Low response rates do not belong to such a personal device as mobile phone. And the brands do not want to become pervasive and unwanted wallpaper in people’s mobile phones.

I think that Apple is addressing the right issue and the market will benefit from this initiative, but their limited reach and especially context switch issues still remain major challenges for iAds.

Best mobile advertising happens within the life of the user

When mobile advertising is done within the life of the target audience, with 100% opted-in, fully profiled and happily engaging audience, the ads bring entirely new opportunities and brands can enter in a real dialogue with their audience. And this is where mobile messaging media such as Blyk and operators can really make a difference. The real money is in the engagement.

Blyk’s Global sales director Eric Kip will be giving a presentation about “Fresh Thinking – Seven Rules for Effective Mobile Advertising” on 14th April and also taking part in the panel discussion on 15th April. See the full agenda here.

To register to the event and meet Eric, go to the MMA Forum Singapore website.

Turkka Oksanen, Head of Operations, at Blyk, explained that:

“Aito brings accuracy and speed to our analytics and insight creation. This provides us with conclusive data that is accessible to our different teams through an intuitive and easy to use interface.”

Read the full press release here: Aito customer experience analysis tools provide Blyk with insight into consumer behaviour.

Finland-based Aito Technologies, a developer of customer experience analytics products (CEA), today announced that it will continue its partnership with Blyk, the mobile messaging media, to provide analytics tools that reveal customer behaviour trends. Aito began working with Blyk in November 2008, when its CEA tools were integrated into the Blyk platform, and will continue to underpin Blyk’s mobile media capabilities.

Get the insight on how to get your message across from Antti Öhrling’s guest column in MSearchGroove.

RELATED ARTICLE: Messaging: the future of mobile advertising

“Shots” is powerful mobile advertising service that enables brands to engage and interact directly with targetted segments of Orange UK customer base. Launching with full service commercial offers from 1st of February, “Orange Shots” will initially be available to brands who want to interact with an audience of 100,000 customers from part of Orange’s Pay As You Go “Monkey” customer base. New profiles and customer segments will quickly follow, matching Orange’s ambition to significantly grow this audience.

Blyk has a wealth of media and technological capabilities, which will enable Orange to offer:
• Real time conversation with customers happy to hear from them
• A highly targeted audience base with no wastage
• An opportunity to build an engaging and enduring relationship with customers as they get to know more about their profiles and interests
• High response rates, strong returns on investment and great viral potential

I agree with Marc Overton from Orange UK, that this service will transform mobile advertising as we know it. Everybody wins working with Blyk; consumers, advertisers and operators alike. At Blyk, we have always known the value of relevance, interaction and reach in creating winning mobile media campaigns.

Antti Ohrling
Co-founder, Blyk