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I came across a really interesting (and exciting) blog post this morning from the Canadian Marketing Association’s Digital conference where there seems to have been quite a buzz surrounding Blyk. (‘Thursday, October 30, 2008. The Phone that Owns the Media…Blyk’)

From the Blyk perspective, it’s fantastic to see that there’s such discussion coming from events like this (and in North America none-the-less). Even more noteworthy is that the discussions surrounding Blyk are now happening among Chief Creative Officers from leading global agencies.

Coming from a traditional ‘creative agency’ background, I know all too well the challenges faced by traditional agencies when it comes to getting creative teams to understand emerging communications platforms (let alone, integrate new channels into their campaign development). The desire is there, but quite often there’s just too high a learning curve. Add the crazy timelines that teams are often faced with and it’s just not feasible to explore new channels. Lack of understanding and lack of time become huge barriers. And honestly, there’s often that underlying (but not verbalized) concern ‘but will it win me a Lion in Cannes?’

And, from my own experience (sad but true) when you finally have that brilliant communication concept that’s integrated across multiple platforms (with real potential to drive the client’s business and also to win that Titanium Lion), you then find yourself with a client who rejects the concept either due to fear of risk or a client that feels it’s simply too much work to ‘sell-in’ the idea to their own organizations. So they go back to what they’ve done over and over again…..even if it’s not delivering the ROI that it may have in the past.

So, here is this media called Blyk that from my perspective should be both the traditional creative agency and an advertiser’s dream.

1. Direct access to the young consumer… a captive audience of 16-24 year olds who see value in getting relevant communications from brands sent right to their phones… so they opt-in when they join Blyk. Just think about it, in the UK where Blyk has 200,000 members, it’s the equivalent of filling Wembley Stadium in London (the 2nd largest stadium in Europe) two times over with 16-24 year olds eagerly waiting for the message that you’re going to send them. Talk about ‘breaking through the clutter’.

2. And thinking about all the account planners out there who’s function is to the bring the consumer into the process of developing advertising, Blyk can give immediate insight and information on the target group without needing expensive and time consuming focus groups. Blyk members profile themselves when they join so you have a rich base of information and insight on the Blyk member right from the start. But through the process of asking members a question and then getting an instant response back, you can capture additional insight that could ignite the creative process and be the catalyst to the next ‘big idea’.

3. And in terms of delivering return on investment, I’ll give an example from the automotive industry. With one simple question, you can know exactly where the individual is in the car shopping process (an automotive marketers dream). So you can target your messages with absolute precision. There would be no mystery whether you are reaching the right audience with the right messages. And you can drive traffic right to the closest dealer and track behaviour all the way to the point of sale. So, in today’s climate of reduced marketing budgets and the need to prove ROI on every single campaign, Blyk can deliver you measurable results and can help you demonstrate ROI.

4. And while the mobile phone is Blyk’s communication channel, Blyk is not based on complicated or ‘future’ technologies but rather it’s based on what young people do every single day – getting a message and responding to it. Blyk knows the phone type of all of its members so Blyk can ensure that your ‘big idea’ (whether in the form of words, pictures, sounds, videos or a combination) is optimized for the phone type. Multi-media messages are not only possible but can be delivered at high quality. And since Blyk has both the audience and the communication platform under one roof, it means that you don’t have to sift through the traditional and complicated mobile marketing eco-system but rather you just make one call to Blyk and you can immediately connect with receptive and responsive 16-24s.

5. And Blyk is delivering great results for brands and agencies right now.

So, can it bring Lions in Cannes? We hope to soon see. The potential is certainly there. And it’s great to hear the buzz and endorsement coming from some of the most senior members of the creative community.