With a high number of advertising budgets switching from traditional television and print commercials, it is predicted that the Internet and mobile advertising will soon have the highest share of ad spend. The growth of mobile advertising alone, according to Juniper research is expected to exceed $1bn in 2008. They also predict a rise to over $7bn by 2013. With such a vast spend in mobile advertising dollars, does the reach really extend to and capture the target audience of mobile phone users?

AdMarkTech.Com caught up with Timo Ahopelto, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Blyk. Blyk have a unique and refreshing approach to acquiring a captive mobile audience. They are offering 16-24 year olds in the UK, a Blyk SIM card with 217 free texts and 43 free minutes, to any UK network, every month. They openly announce to their new customers that they are receiving the free services due to the advertisements that will be sent to their phones either by standard text message or multimedia messaging.

But how does Blyk get the word out there?

“We have three methods of member recruitment: member-get-member, online and events. Our member target is 100,000 users in the UK within the first twelve months, by September 24th.” Although the figures are not yet public, the speculation is that Blyk will not only reach this figure but will exceed it. After all, what 16-24 year old would say no to making free calls and sending free texts? Adding buzz to the marketing campaign, Blyk has enabled users to invite a limited number of friends to join in the same way that Gmail first launched its 1gb email account. New users can only join if they are invited or have been part of a Blyk promotion.

Using a combination of internal resources and external agencies, Blyk has already done a great job, not only getting the word out on the streets, but also explaining how they are able to offer free minutes and texts. Blyk assures their users that they will only receive up to six branded texts in any one day.

Using marketing technology developed in-house, Blyk is able to target campaigns to users who have given relevant preferences. This technology is key in the world of mobile marketing and advertising. It is also the factor that manages to classify Blyk as a media agency offering a phone service as oppose to a phone operator selling advertising.

“For young people we are obviously a phone network and a phone service. They joined primarily because of the financial offer. To our advertisers the whole proposition is seen as media. They engage with us in the same way they would do TV or Internet advertising. Existing mobile advertising systems are more based on executing a campaign and sending it, whereas managing media consists of different formats and styles, with the targeting defining the offer.”

Eighteen months was spent developing the targeted marketing technology prior to launching in September 2007.

Currently, only available to users in the UK, Blyk is looking at developing and extending their model to other countries. “We have announced and will launch this year in the Netherlands.” Timo also added, “In the Far East 16-24 year old mobile phone users account for 20% of mobile usage compared to 10% in Europe, which makes it a very attractive market. We have been contacted by people from that area.”

The methods and approach that Blyk have taken to Mobile advertising condition and educate a whole new generation of mobile phone users. They have looked at the future and started building with a firm foundation of advertising aware, brand loyal customers. If the Juniper prediction for ad spend in 2013 is only 50% on target, Blyk will be a huge stakeholder in the mobile audience. In 2013, the 16-24 year old loyal Blyk customers will be 24-30 year old loyal customers with more financial buoyancy and a greater acceptance of mobile advertising.

Blyk Mobile Marketing Case Study 1

Brylcreem
Marketing a range of products based with a message tailored to response

Media Objectives

Brylcreem, the established male grooming brand, launched its new ‘b:’ range, a group of six styling products aimed at young males Brylcreem had three core objectives for their new ‘b:’ range of hair products
- Raise awareness of the range of products among young men
- Develop understanding of the product proposition in a relevant and engaging way
- Amplify their “effortless style” message in line with their existing channel mix

The Blyk Solution

This was Brylcreem’s first use of mobile and they turned to Blyk for strategic & creative expertise Blyk created a 2-part animated MMS dialogue
- Showing images of the range of ‘b:’ products
- Segmenting respondents by their styling preference and creating a talking point for the brand
- Members were sent a message with the product relevant to their response
Sent to male members early evening on a Friday
- When thinking or preparing for their Friday night out
- Prior to their weekend shopping excursions

Results

Delivered against all Brylcreem’s objectives
1 in 2 Blyk members engaged with the campaign
- Shows high brand awareness
- Increased consistency of brand message through integration with other media

Insights

Animation and question created viral and WOM buzz
- Blyk’s Shift 6 focus group said it created a talking point with
members showing the animation to friends
Provided additional audience insight
- Creating new member segments based on hairstyle
- For future remarketing
The campaign resonated with Brylcreem’s core targets:
indexed against all respondents
- Personal grooming buyers (Index 143)
- Toiletries and cosmetics buyers (Index 121)
- Clubbers (Index 113)

Blyk Mobile Marketing Case Study 2

JJB Sports
Facilitating a personalised dialogue between brand and consumer

Media Objectives

JJB Sports is one of the UK’s leading sports retailers; it is a specialist in clothing, footwear and sports equipment, stocking the biggest brand names in sport JJB needed to:

-Generate awareness and sales for their new footwear products at the start of the Christmas shopping period
-Gauge receptiveness to follow up store communications

The Blyk Solution

Blyk created a dialogue asking members what their favourite brand of trainer was, respondents then received a tailored response featuring their trainer brand
- Response included number for member to call to find nearest store
Sent Saturday 1st December between 12 noon and 3pm
- Start of Christmas shopping period
Targeted at male & female members respectively A second message was sent two days later asking
respondents whether they would like to receive further messages from JJB

Results

The dialogue proved a resounding success for JJB with a 62% response rate for both male and female members
- Thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of using leading footwear brands to stimulate interest in JJB
With the follow up message JJB also gauged the member’s receptivity to the follow up communications
- 84% of male and 82% of female members agreed to receive further messages

Insights

JJB now has a significant number of Blyk members who it can now communicate with and thus open up further CRM opportunities, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of Blyk’s two-stage approach and its ability to target messages to members who had already engaged with the campaign.