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UK CEO, Blyk

The effects of the economic downturn are widespread. Companies have either already cut their marketing budgets or have a cut planned for 2008. According to a global study by Forrester research, marketing budgets are expected to be cut by 3% on average this year. But, it’s not all gloom. This opens up a window of opportunity for smart advertisers. Why? Well, it gives them the opportunity to assess their approach.

The first step when facing marketing cuts is to initiate a shift from mass advertising to targeted advertising. Channels that once delivered mass audiences are suffering from audience fragmentation, while digital convergence is providing more integrated platforms for communication on a one-to-one level. Consumer choice now determines what messages are seen and when.

The second step is to open up a direct dialogue between the brand and the consumer via innovative marketing channels. The only personalised media channel that allows this is the mobile phone. And, since the mobile phone is an indispensable part of people’s lives, mobile advertising offers a viable and unique channel in reaching consumers in an economic downturn.

Contrary to the stigma among advertisers and marketers that push strategies used with mobile advertising are interruptive and ineffective; 71% of young people admitted that they would like to receive advertising messages on their mobile phones that were targeted to their particular interests. At Blyk, where ad formats based on the most dominant communications pattern among 16-24 year olds - messaging - we believe that push strategies, used as an initial conversation point, are an effective way of opening a dialogue between brands and consumers.

Finally, the third phase is about getting creative minds going. Why not create interesting new campaigns tailored for mobile advertising? It’s about engagement, it’s about relevance. A brand will send a text message, users respond and then the brand sends an answer back. Blyk members - who are fully authenticated upon joining Blyk - react well to this level of engagement, offering high response rates. For example, Penguin’s campaign to promote Nick Hornby’s new novel saw 7 out of 10 members engage with the publisher in dialogue.

And when ROI is even more crucial during a credit crunch, being able to achieve significantly higher response rates than other channels is critical. Blyk has run over 900 mobile advertising campaigns for brands such as EMI, Boots, Penguin, Brylcreem, L’Oreal and NatWest, with industry leading response rates.

Mobile advertising, when executed correctly, is not advertising in its traditional sense; instead it effectively provides useful and relevant information, and a personal mode of communication. When it works - and Blyk does - mobile communication helps protect and build brands by opening dialogue with consumers.

The world of mobile is all about dialogue, relevance and openness. When it is treated as such with a targeted campaign, it can help combat any budget challenge.

Co-founder

I’ve been in San Francisco the past few days giving a keynote entitled “Freeing Mobile” at the YPulse Mashup 2008 – organised by YPulse, an authority on youth media. I was privileged to share the stage with representatives from other youth brands including Walt Disney Records and MTV. Overall, it was a very interesting and lively 2-day event with around 400 participants.

There was a focus on the US (naturally), but discussions also touched on some international trends. During my talk, I was able to give a basic overview of the Blyk proposition – 16-24 year olds want free communication in exchange for relevant and interactive mobile advertising.

It was interesting for me because the audience saw Blyk as something completely new with outstanding results (e.g. response rates) and many are wondering why this hasn’t yet taken off in the US. In fact, Blyk recently hit the mainstream radar in the US with CNBC’s recent broadcast of the “Cell Phone Quid Pro Quo” which gave an in-depth look of Blyk and mobile advertising.

Some key discussion topics from YPulse include:

• Difficult to reach: Marketers are still looking for the “killer application” or entry point by which to effectively communicate and reach the youth audience. The major challenge for marketers is do identify this entry point whilst recognising that young people have become more difficult to reach due to rapidly changing, savvy media habits and wavering preferences (e.g. be it social networks or brands / products).

• Lack of understanding: Marketers have a lack of understanding when it comes to young people and are struggling to effectively reach them. Media fragmentation and rise of the digital age have been key factors contributing to this phenomenon.

• iPhone mania: iPhone mania was unbelievably strong amongst the participants at the conference. I see this currently as a very US-centric phenomenon. The capabilities and some statistics of the phone are impressive, but the lack of viewpoints – e.g. concerning limitations in the distribution, price of usage and proprietary technology – are obvious. But it is growing and will be interesting to see the progress.

• Hip-Hop music in marketing: Obviously again a more US centric issue, but there was interesting discussion about the usability of the music genre for marketing purposes along with the limitations and risks involved. There was an impressive line of experts on this panel including rapper MC Hammer.

• Europe is ahead of the curve: Europe is strong in youth related issues and it was agreed that many trends are created overseas.

My overall take? Relevancy and engagement matter to the youth audience and mobile is the perfect media for relevant and interactive communication. Incentivise young people to interact with brands directly by giving them what they want – in Blyk’s case, that’s free communication, “money-can’t-buy” offers and messages from brands they like. That’s the marketer’s point of entry (and long-term relationship) with the youth audience.

All-in-all, a very positive experience. A special thanks to the YPulse organisers for a great event!

I look forward to reading your comments.

Amsterdam/Helsinki, 30 June 2008 – Blyk, the new mobile network for 16 to 24 year olds funded by advertising, is a step closer to launch in the Netherlands. Eric Kip (44), currently Planning Director EMEA at MediaCom, will be the Managing Director of this new company.

Blyk links young people to brands they like and gives them free minutes and text messages every month - upfront and without a contract. For brands, Blyk is an innovative media channel providing direct access to 16-24 year olds who have opted-in to the service and have provided in-depth profiles on themselves so that brands can deliver them relevant communication.

From September 2008, Eric Kip will lead this company in the Netherlands. His view on this new challenge: “Blyk is a great concept for which I have a big passion. With this new communication channel companies can perfectly reach and contact a target group that is usually hard to reach. At the same time we are offering a unique mobile communication concept to young people. I am very excited to start with Blyk and introduce the company to the Dutch youth and advertisers.”

Currently, Eric Kip is Planning Director EMEA at MediaCom, where he is responsible for revenue growth and the quality of planning output of the European network. In the past he was CEO of media agency Initiative Group Netherlands, he worked as Marketing Director at Coca-Cola and held several Marketing positions at Danone and Sara Lee.

Blyk’s co-founder Pekka Ala-Pietilä about the Dutch CEO: “Eric Kip has more than 20 years of experience in marketing. He has worked with many youth brands and has an excellent network with advertisers. We are convinced that with Eric on board, Blyk will succeed in becoming the new Dutch communication channel for young people.

Blyk was launched in September 2007 in the United Kingdom, where the milestone of 100,000 members was reached in April this year. Additional details on Blyk’s launch in the Netherlands will be announced in the coming months.