Blog

By Timo Ahopelto

“The Blyk concept works,” said Emeka Obiodu, senior analyst from Ovum, yesterday at Blyk’s second analyst roundtable where more than 30 media, telecoms and advertising analysts and experts attended.

Throughout the day we shared, discussed and debated some of Blyk’s recent developments including:

• Blyk marks its first year in the UK with 200,000 members, doubling the amount forecasted after 12 months in operation.

• Blyk connects brands with “The Recommenders” – young people who are first to try, talk and share new things, and then pass them on to their friends.

• Blyk members love the Blyk concept and are building Blyk through word-of-mouth. Overall, 6 out of 10 have joined because of a friend’s recommendation.

• As researched by Millward Brown, the “net advocacy score” – defined as those who would recommend the service minus those who would not – is the highest among most UK mobile networks (on par with 02) and just behind the likes of Facebook and Youtube. For us at Blyk, this is the most important metric because it shows that Blyk creates unique value to young people’s lives.

• Blyk media works for a broad range of communications needs including awareness (example: EFD Semi Pro), engagement (example: Living TV), sales (example: Lucozade) and insight (example: Brylcreem).

• Blyk media is effective: for example, Blyk spurred 35 percent of special offer redemptions with only a one percent investment for Lucozade.

• Blyk members are responsive. Response rates to advertising are maintained high across industries, a good example is the 64 percent response rate for the Penguin Books campaign to promote ‘Slam.’

And lastly, Blyk and attending analysts yesterday discussed a major question on the industry’s mind: when will mobile advertising take off? In our view, the industry will need to shift its focus from mobile and technology to media solutions that meet brands’ communications goals while creating real value for the consumer.