Blog

By Antti Öhrling

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to speak at the Marketing Society Annual Conference “Winning in the Downturn”. The organisers assembled a very interesting group of people for the day… and the topic? What could be more on the pulse. And yet, still, we all hate downturns, or do we? Is there an opportunity, when the scared ones stop spending in their brands, for newer and braver ones to gain market share and build long-term brand equity?

Although in the current world where everything is driven by quarterly results, most of the decision makers that make these big cuts in their marketing spend today, don’t have to see the havoc they caused in the years to come. They take the short-term gains and future CEOs will pay the price.

Blyk really fits the market today. I shared the story of Blyk starting from the business idea – uniting young people and brands with free communication. With our 200,000 members, member-get-member (being the fastest growing channel), high Net Advocacy level (on par with Facebook and MySpace), 25 percent unparalleled response level in the more than 2,000 campaigns we’ve run and nearly 200 brand on board already – it’s all working, and working really, really well. And the audience seemed to agree. If you can get a 25 percent response and spend 50 pence per response (much lower than any other digital or direct media), why wouldn’t you agree? It’s all about the 100 percent opt-in audience and engagement. Advertising is good, when it is relevant.

Key highlights from the day include:

David Taylor from Brandgym opened the session by addressing the audience with 5 tips to survive in the current economic situation: 1) Brand everything 2) Stand out 3) Kill the small line extensions 4) Cut the costs, not corners 5) Never mind the “emotional” advertising.

Les Binet and Peter Field gave 10 tips (we’re improving) on the same issue:
Don’t panic
Cut the right costs (not marketing)
Cutting Share of voice cuts your future
Cutting SOV causes long term damage
Cutting SOV outs your brand at risk
A recession is a marketing opportunity
Promotions are not the solution
Emotions are the key, even when times are tough
Aim for the fame
Harness the power of multi-channel media approach.

Gayle Troberman from Microsoft shared her experience from the “I’m a PC” campaign. Ordinary people are interesting… also for other people. That was their learning. You must ask, listen and continuously adapt in your campaign whilst you are running it. And create a lot of digital assets.

Will Whitehorn from Virgin Galactic was sharing the exciting prospect of space tourism and the revolutionary opportunities associated with it. They have built a solid business case around an innovative idea.

Nick Vermont shared some lessons learned from McCain Foods over the recent years, namely how to recover from a “health scare” driven by tabloids. They have done a brilliant job by becoming open, approachable and doing the good thing.

Sir Keith Mills talked about how an integrated media solution is the most efficient one – a very important point. The era of TV as a mass medium is over. You have to be clever by combining media to achieve the best results. And you need the ability to pick yourself up when the times are tough, the same way the best athletes can do.

Levi Roots took us through his extraordinary story of Reggae Reggae sauce – the big success of the year – and his passion to bring Jamaican food to a wider audience. And he sung and the Reggae Reggae song which really delighted the audience.

Sir Matthew Pinsent was talking about winning margins and shared his story when preparing for the Athens Olympics – a true thriller! No wonder he has become one of the UK’s most successful and highest profile athletes of all time.

Simon Clift from Unilever gave interesting viewpoints of building real brands for real people. He claims that environmental sustainability will be the centre of consumer behaviour. He made us think about all the millions of kids dying from diarrhea every year due to poor hygiene which put the current recession in the right perspective.

Jill McDonald from McDonald’s shared with us how they have made a complete brand turnaround which was a good description on how to improve your position during hard market conditions.

Tony Juniper / Kelvin MacKenzie / Jo Kenrick had an interesting discussion about various aspects of morality and brands. In hard economic times, will consumers go ‘more green’ or will they just go ‘more mean’? A nice juxtaposition from viewpoints resulted a vivid and interesting discussion.

Big thanks to chair Andrew McGuinness, host Krishnan Guru-Murthy and entire Marketing Society for the interesting day!

The Mediatech 100 is a list of Europe’s hottest private media technology companies likely to have the biggest impact on the industry in the future.

Today Library House, the essential source on fast-growth, innovation-led private companies across Europe, today revealed its 2008 Mediatech 100 in association with Kemp Little and New Media Age. Blyk was awarded a spot among the top 10 companies.

On October 30th the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) published a comprehensive research about Mobile Advertising in Blyk’s first expansion country; the Netherlands.

Even though Blyk has not yet launched in The Netherlands, we already participated in this research as a Launching Partner because of the importance of this research. It was the first ever national Mobile Advertising research gathering insights from consumers, advertisers, media agencies and mobile advertising experts.

The research showed consumers are sceptical about receiving ads on their mobile. However, this attitude strongly changes when consumers are incentivised (e.g. free text & minutes) and when the ads are relevant (e.g. fitting the consumer profile). From all forms of mobile advertising, consumers are most familiar with commercial text messages. In order of importance, an appropriate reward, control over what kind of messages they receive, tailored to their interests, and a permission-based model positively changes their attitude towards receiving ads on their mobile.

The advertisers still look at Mobile Advertising as being very new. It’s not yet a standard touch point in their communication planning. The research shows when advertisers start using Mobile Advertising it generates a better ROI than any other touch point. This results in recurring campaigns once advertisers have invested in Mobile Advertising.

The media agencies already consider Mobile Advertising as a key instrument. They see it as an important additional channel within a bigger picture. And it helps the media agencies to position themselves more strategically towards the advertisers – i.e. being a knowledgeable consultant on new media developments.

The mobile experts see a gap between the available Mobile Advertising technology and that what’s actually used by advertisers. Technically a lot is possible, but so far most Mobile Advertising is done through text and simple online banners.

All in all the research confirms Blyk is on track for a good entry in the Dutch market. Basically all lights are on GREEN:
• consumers will receive an upfront free text & voice bundle every month whilst they will only get highly relevant ads

• Blyk in the UK has already worked with many youth key brands resulting in high ROI for the investments done. The interest from Dutch advertisers is high based on these great UK results

• the media agencies are welcoming Blyk because of it’s very simple, open, honest proposition

• Blyk will “only” use text & mms for the ads. Both techniques are very well accepted and appreciated by Dutch consumers.

I really cannot wait for us to launch in The Netherlands! And yes…. Q1 2009!

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.

On Sept 24th, Blyk had its first birthday and a whopping 14,000 members shared why they love Blyk. The results have had the UK team laughing, smiling, sharing, and comparing all of the fantastic comments.

Have fun reading ….

The Blyk team’s 20 favourites:

1. Stephen, Ipswich
The warm fuzzy feeling whenever i hear the familiar ring signifying a new message and i look down and see that beautiful blur of 1s and 0s! Happy birthday Blyk, love your loyal customer xx

2. Ouardra, Bradford
Urm da ryt timing an da suprise blyk gave me wen i waz havin a conversation about the national minimum wage an i recievd a txt 5seconds later telin me da amount it waz so kwl! As if its psychik! An i also luv da fact the i alwayz recieve my refil on time! I love blyk its so helpful!

3. Morris, Reading
Wha is the point of answeRing. Your not going to read it. I bet a computer choses randomly. So i have a chance of wining by replying anything.

*See, we do read them ; )

4. Ryan, Crawley
Great for my a level media, talking about new methods of companies reaching their audience! Got me an A in the exam! Thanks also blyk music is great!

5. Laura, Birmingham
You helped me ring for an ambulance when i gave birth! And i thankyou for that!

6. Natalie, Rainham
Blyk is the bomb! Efficient and faithful. Great updates on gossip, news, weather and takes great care of students and teenagers. I love you blyk becoz u love me. Happy birthday, thank GOD u were born. Xx Tash.

7. James, London
With this credit ive been able to chat up girls and sort out my career so thank you so much

8. Sajid, Derby
The fact that blyk has kept me up to date with everything and I haven’t been falling behind on all the latest movies, games, big brother etc. Plus having the free minutes at the time when I had no credit, saved me from having to spend hours getting home due to getting dumped by my girlfriend in Newcastle, a place that was totally a lonely place to me, that is until I had called my cousin that lives there and he took me to his house and I returned home safely all thanks to free minutes from Blyk.

9. Lauren, Liverpool
I like the way i can text my girlfriend i love her 217 different times for free

10. Muhammad, London
The best thing so far, has been blyks personal touch to their network messages, it almost feels like blyk is a person! Hi blyk, c u soon! teenagers in contact with big companies and makes our futures promising.

11. Farha, Barking
The best thing about blyk is in its name itself. For me, its the fact that blyk has the ability to:Bestow and Liberate theYouth Kindheartedly….with its free texts and minutes. As well as brand messages on the latest gossip, fashion, reviews and even weather forecast! What more could you want?

12. Islam, London
Collecting data and opinions about us in a cool way + the free mins n txts!And not forgetting the name that sounds like som1 has just thrown up in a good way!

13. Lee, Walsall
The fact that blyk was made for cool people who have illustrious life styles. And i’m on it

14. Naomi, Paignton
The best thing about blyk so far is that ive been able to ring up my rude, unhelpful, expensive old phone provider and tell them that i was leaving their company and that there was no way they could beat the phone deal you had offered!

15. Junior, Watford
Even when i’ve lost my job, my girlfriend and my cars been repossessed and my mum won’t talk to me and i cant afford to go the barbers..in the back of my mind i know that blyk is always providing. In short, the best thing about blyk is its outstanding reliability

16. Christopher, Canvey Island
Free txts n calls are very cool. Dont be a fool. Drool over the best service ever! Its very clever, no matter what the weather. Ads giv gd info b4 u can blinko

17. Erhan, Basildon
The text messages it sends me makes me look popular as people think i always get messages!

18. Olivier, Ashford
Some or the ads have actually changed the types of music that i like. Thanks so much ive managed to discover a whole new style of music which i previously wouldnt have listened to!

19. Aaron, Leicester
The fact that i can show of 2 my parents that there to old for it and that i get up to date news aswell

20. Emmanuel, Tilbury
The fact that there is a group of people that have formed a legitimate organisation to help those less fortunate aswel as the fortunate to stay in touch with family, friends and in most cases, save you from a spot of trouble. So thank you. To all those at blyk and a bigger thankyou to the founders and wellwishers. This mesage started off with the sole purpose of gaining 5pounds but, it quickly changed 2 a wel deserved and long overdue … thank you and happy birthday. 4rm a very appreciative student. Emmanuel Anthony Williams.

And the others that made us smile lots …………. : )

The way you can invite friends and have a proper social network

The way that blyk members get free previews is great because we know about new artists and music b4 our mates. And the free texts and mins aren’t bad either!

The wap needs to have free wap sites like jobs training and email i like blyk because i dont get spam texts voice mail needs to be free please let me know when my phone will work on blyk in canada keep up the good work

The way Blyk always correctly finds youngster’s pulse in terms of what they love and like. Blyk is our heart beat

The freedom it gives you over a contract and the free cost it gives you over payg. In a sense it is like the baby bear’s porridge of networks.

The happy and cheerful ‘hi’s you get in a message when checking your balance. Always makes you happy to be a member of blyk

The best thing about blyk is that is has given students the oppotunity to use extra cash that they would have used on credit on more important things for example, errmm, ‘learning’? Not alcohol and pizza….

The best thing about blyk so far is that with the free texts i have kept my dad off my back about the phone bill and he has not had anything to rat on about for the best part of 6 months!! Safe!

The best bit has probably been how bloody fun Blyk has been to use, it’s so much easier than the other networks! No hassle and i kinda like the adverts, they remind me to buy things i need x

The best thing for me so far is the fantastic services by blyk member care, as i was experiencing problems with my blyk and it was quickely and easliy resolved, without any hassle or fuss. The people were kind, helpful and understanding. <3 =)

The best thing i think blyk is doing so far is advertising! Thank’s to blyk i’ve been traveling here, there and everywhere with STA travel. Happy Birthday Blyk!

The best thing i like about blyk is that it considers young adults such as myself and understands the complications which comes along with topping up your phone. Many of us don’t have jobs and rather spend pocket money on something else rather than top up which would be rinsed in no time at all. I think blyk is great and i appriciate its generous services.

The heat scoop. i love getting nosy with the celebz and me and my frendz love it when we get them juicy textz. we literally wait in anxiety for it. thanks for giving us youths a break as we are strappd 4 cash we love you blyk! ! x

The friendly updates about everything!; media, fashion, cinema, life,..etc. (So much more!) because it is very informative and can be helpful, teach me new things hence becoming more knowledgeable . Also the fact that everything is absolutely FREE!

The jealous looks i get from my friends!

The knowledge that there are good people in the world!

The kindness and generosity that blyk has shown to all its users. i am very privalleged to have the honour of being a member of a well designed network.

The music updates give me knowledge to tell my friends, they love my music updates!

Your more intresting than my girl friend

I fink the best thing about blyk so far is how you feel lyk a valued customer blyk send messages to you were as other networks make you feel like a machine and blyk are with the latest fashion and news from kier

Information about exclusive music gigs because with blyk you feel like a VIP

Fantastic music information and updates keeping me in front of my friends for music info

The best thing is that it keeps you updated with music so far like new songs so you no before everyone else

Logans music reviews. Its always about new artist’s that im intrested in. Its great.

The ability to interact with your favourite music artists on a regular basis

The updates on new music and free tasters and wallpapers awesome! So good to find new artists and sounds (Y) Xx

Starring in DJ Ironiks music video for his new single ‘I wanna be your man’. Thank you blyk.

With witty adverts and great deals on offer, everyone is a winner with blyks unique service! *OFFICIALLY ENDORSED BY GUY IN PUB*

The fact that Blyk care about the people of Britain and that they offer them free minutes and texts so it is easier for college students to comunicate without spendin money on credit.

The fact that i get brand messages about my favourite stuff . And the free minutes and text

The fact that i recieve brand messages from things that i like and theres always something new and interesting and i also love that it has exciting new offers..

The fact that it gives us adverts and free min and txt 4 free is loyalty

The fact that it helps me 2 no wots goin on in london n tells me about events that i never would hav heard about myself… I love u x x x

The fact that itCan relate to us youngsters better than other networks!

The fact that its its new and original and comes with free minutes and texts without having to pay for anything and that it comes with texts from blyk everyday with interesting texts and deals.

The fact that they care about us students enough to be highly generous as to giving us the chance to communicate with one another. Thank you blyk!

The fact that they trust their costumers not to abuse their free texts and minutes and make their cosumers comfortable with the service by keeping them up to date with everything.

The fact that you just keep on giving - especially even through all this financial turmoil, we need you more than ever before!

The creation of blyk itself has been the best thing about it

The offer of free minutes is still on even though blyk is now popular.

the range of ads received.. i can any friend from any social group. because i can choose interests, its as if the messages are addressed directly to me. blyk basically reaches out to any target audience
the free sports updates. especially the text where i told u what player i thought capello should put as england captain. X

the freebees are the sex!you give us mins and text for absoluly nothing.and the best thing is that we cn get signal when all the time like of the well known networks you dnt even get signal,not naming name,orange.and even when you top-up its nt tht expensive to ring and text.and you even give us mre text on top of the free ones we get just for toping up.you also give us info about new products on market.and the questions i love replyin to them.they have something for every1.ive tld all my friends bwt it and they love it to.when the representative first tld me bwt it i thought it was to good to be true..i stil think it is.lol.is it? X

Blyk is the only network company that care about the upbringing, situation and unity of teenagers in this current havoc and tension between them, whereas the other companies just care about getting money out of their clients. Blyk keeps us teenagers in contact with big companies and makes our futures promising.

Firstly the updates and weather reports. And also blyk possibly saved my life asking me if I had asthma and advising me to get a flu jab to avoid complications.

The fantabolous free credit which is a huge help in these desparate times. As well as the amazing oppourtunities and offers sent by sms!

I am alot more aware of new things e.g new movies, music etc nd so is keeping me updated with things that really interest me.

Blyk is the only network which understands the financial crises us students face, its monthly allowancing is awesome and its basically free luxury!

he fact that blyk sends u the latest news and gossip. Also if u need any help u can simply txt blyk and they will help u unlike other networks

The support that you get and the great gossips that are send to me. Everything is with blyk. The stories that we get from magazines are interesting and fun to read they aint boring. Blyk always informs you on the latests news and also the texts that we get that we can reply to ask intresting questions and you wouldnt mind replying to them. Its really a previlage beeing with blyk i enjoy all the servises that blyk has to offer. The gossips that we get about celebs are great! Thanks for everything blyk and Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday blyk.The best thing so far is are the great imformal txts that tell me about all the latest movie releases so that i can b ahead of all my mates when it comes to the movie gosip.

The wide variety of jokes film reviews etc not forgetin its Free!!

The best thing about blyk was when you told me about a movie review about disaster movie you have it a 1 out of 5 stars and i didnt in and see it but my friends went and said it wasnt that good so thank you blyk x

The fashtion forecasts helped the most, really helps you to decide what to wear for that day according to the weather and the other obvious one is the minutes an texts.

Great customer service, great updates on everything you can think of, sports, music, movies, celebrites. The best thing is all of the updates and advertisements that come in handy and most of all i appreciate the refill every month which comes in use when you need it. I love blyk and feel honoured to be a member!

The dj ironic concert as i got autographs +picturer of him,chipmunks,n dubz and a few more but i had a great nite also cos i brought my best m8t with me.x

The amazing use of advertisments that get sent. With songs, wallpaper and reviews. Always updating you is the best about blyk

The best thing about blyk so far is its like having a friend 2 talk 2 because when blyk asks questions and i reply blyk always talks back =] and it also is nice 2 be asked 4 my opinion on things shows i have a say which is good

Blyk’s generosity is by far the best thing of all. They say nothings ever free in life-there’s always a catch, well blyk has proved that saying wrong. Now thats very rare!!

The fact that blyk has kept me up to date with everything and I haven’t been falling behind on all the latest movies, games, big brother etc. Plus having the free minutes at the time when I had no credit, saved me from having to spend hours getting home due to getting dumped by my girlfriend in Newcastle, a place that was totally a lonely place to me, that is until I had called my cousin that lives there and he took me to his house and I returned home safely all thanks to free minutes from Blyk.

Finding about the free gym membership for 3months from the Sweat in The City programme. X

Receiving messages from blyk which ask a question and cause your mind to spark off the creative senses in order to give an exquisite answer such as this one.

The best thng wuz wen u sd abwt topn up 5 pound nd gtn dat refill

The best ting about blyk 4 me apart frm free txt n mins lol, was dat u guys hav kept me updated with the media n im so busy i dnt normally get 2 keep up. N da oda ting is u guys mke ur service so fun, e.g. Sendin lil quizzes n puzzles n ur service is so interactive. So thanks 4 being directly involved wit ur customers n keepin us entertained. Congratulations on havin a year of success xx

The best+memorable thing is the texts which keep young people updated+entertained with the latest and making them aware of employment opportunites.

The blyk community; the fact that all the users are connected via the portal and become one group. It becomes a more personalised experience

Making everyone jealous about getting free txts and calls!

Its young an fresh just like da people who use it !

Itz a social network, targetted to young people and the youths of today, and the future of tomorrow. Blyk is the best coz of the different features n network connection. It keeps us together. Thank u blyk 4 evrything

After car crash an breakin my back blyk has kept me wiv ma mates x

All of it like having a serious relationship with glossy magazine

All the lovely junk mail sent to me at 8 am when im still asleep… Bliss

The adverts have been very helpful, specibly the lucazade because i never tried it before, but since it was free i gave it a chance

helping me find the new love of my life

How they keep u informed on everything you want to know about

I av tried the rest..but blyk is best,why? Because its always on hand..like a true mate. Thanks blyk.

It gives young people a voice!

The best thing so far, has been blyks personal touch to their network messages, it almost feels like blyk is a person! Hi blyk, c u soon!

Happy birthday! The best thing i like about blyk is when im in need your truly a friend indeed! Ive never caught short of credit and the latest gossip! As friends are there for one another.

The service, the people and the idea!

With the 217 free texts i get every month on my blyk simcard, i can text my mates anytime without worrying about the credit crunch.

With this credit ive been able to chat up girls and sort out my career so thank you so much

Wonderful, marvelous, beautiful, awesome stickers.

Which is the coolest network? Yeah thats blyk! What bout the others.. They can go take a hike!

You’ve helped me through my relationship with my girlfriend, it’s seven months today. Many happy returns!

The stickers that i got with my sim!! There everywhere now !!

You always feel loved cos of all the advertisin txts u get lol

The university notifications if it wasnt for Blyk i probably wouldnt have known about half of the open days .thanks for being so reliable !! X

When no one else text me its actually like blyk is a friend. At least they care!

When you forget you have a top up coming and are anoyed as you have no credit, but then you get your email and recieve your free credit, and realise lifes not so tough after all! brightens up a miserable day! Sarah mcneish

What has been the best thing is that i can talk to my friends without my family listening for free so i can have private conversations that i otherwise dont get the opportunity to have. Plus i get lots of gossip and fun photos to share with eueryone

Well theres alot of things! You get to do quick quizzes, learn something new about the celebrities, and aswel as tht you get 217
free texts and 43 mins!its great! X

Well i think the best times about blyk is when they ask u questions because not many people want to and they are very friendly and give us free minutes and txt i love blyk

We get so many free things from blyk. For someone lyk me whos studying the updates are really useful, as in it helps me do other things beside studying and expands my social life.

Up to date celeb gossip! Christ, i know i would crumble into a small former shell of a human without it

The obvious answer is the free mins n text but also i like d intriguing questionaires and free offers that make this provider d best among it

competitors as non can compete with u and also d flexibilty now to top up its just gets better n better

The opportunities blyk gives members are very beneficial and the updates on latest news and cinema releases are useful. The free stuff is pretty good too!

The regular updates which keep u in touch with news and your favorite things! Blyk r constantly interested about ur opinions and well being which makes me feel like a valid customer - thank u xNAOMIx

The best thing about blyk so far is the fact that you get brand messages which you are interested in so this means that we are alwayz up to date with events and promotions and can take part in things that we love doing.

I love blyk because there was this girl named lauran that i knew since i was 8 years old i bumped into her 10 years down the line and she gave me her number and now she is pregnant with my child and i won her over by texting her everyday and everynight thank you for giveing me the guts to ask her out

i love the way it asks questions about your life style and is always helpful! it once told me how to make cookeys!

I loved the questions that blyk asked such as ‘do u have asthma’ this was helpful as it alowed me to tell my friends how they could reduce there asthma attacks…i also enjoyed the free texts and minutes!

A revolutionary method which binds extraordanarily with students

Being able to have the oppurtunity to do things i never would have got before like concerts etc thanx blyk x x x

The best thing has been trying to work out the name. Could either stand for black labradors youth karate or buy less youre kingly or bloke loathes young kids

There are several networks but i believe this one has a lot of benifits as they give us gosip+news on celebs and general news also they gave us free minutes+txt before topin up plus this means that i dnt need to buy a magazines also i can call my parents when im in a bad situation+they need to be informed so its the best netwrk ever

best thing abou blyk is the constant life updates whether it be to do with celebrity scandals,film reviews,random info,or most importantly the fashion forecast!

Oh and i also like these random texts you send me with multiple answer questions where i can learn some new information haha

Its free and greatly benefitial to students plus blyk keeps us up to date on offers such as cheap travel and student discounts

The lovely helpful hard working people people that work for blyk!

The free credit and nothing to pay its great for the younger population who dont have alot of money and still want to keep in contact with friends THANKYOU x

The best thing about blyk so far are the advertisements made by blyk about celebrities and MTV. Also the balance request is also straight forward as it is answered very quickly.i also lyk the blyk service because everymonth it gives free minutes and free text so it is really good for full time students. So far i would say that blyk it the greatest thing thatz happened 2 me and i thank blyk so much as it made my life more interesting.

The best thing about blyk so far is that you get free minutes and texts.You also get update on great offers that are available.Blyk also give honest feedback directly to questions they’ve been asked.Lastly they deal with any enquiries rationally and are recommendable to the public of the age 16-24.

That you guys kick ass and you make me look important with all the texts. I geuss what im tryin to say is….. I love you guys

“Forget the rest cos blyk are the best.i’ve seen them all and they all tend to fall whereas blyk you’ll find are a class aside.the blyk valuation will surely be a source of major domination.so please don’t underestimate the influence that blyk can make.they say the best things in life are free wit blyk this is definitely.”

Blyk is great! Each message that i’ve received has been helpful in its own way, especially the brainteasers that help wake me up. Plus blyk themselves send useful messages as to where i can top-up etc. Oh yes another reason is ITS ALL FREE, which helps us financially deprived students!
It’s like a student hot line everything i could want to know is just a txt away

What i like about blyk is the text messages i get concerning my likings towards sports and music. I especially like blyk cos i receive tips concerning weather clothing and health which is great.

Bringing lost close friends closer with blyks amazing generous txts!

Collecting data and opinions about us in a cool way + the free mins n txts!And not forgetting the name that sounds like som1 has just thrown up in a good way!

CONGRATULATIONS. :D! I LOVE BLYK BECAUSE I DONT HAVE TO TOP UP HAHAHAHA MUHAHAHAHAHA

Blyk alows friends to stay in touch without the need to hassle parents for top up money also u can contact a person asap if theres an emergancy because your given so many minutes and texts. I love BLYK!

Da best fing about blyk is EVERYTHING! U get 3 mins n 3 txts every month. Blyk offers a great variety of fings lyk da daily txts about wots goin on, every fing n so much more a network cud offer! Its da best network in da world! Fank u so much blyk!!!

Always giving users updates and advice,i have asthma and i get flue really bad this time of the year,and i had no idea i could get a free flue jab,and i had it done yesterday! The advirtisments have been so helpful and useful

The best thing about blyk is that it sends you messages telling you about things that are useful and interesting. Also that you get free texts and minutes and no other network does that for nothing at all. Plus you get to top up aswell which is good for when you run out of texts or minutes. Out of all the networks there is this is definately the best! I dont know what id do without blyk:-)

The free texts, the free minutes, the free ………………………………………………………………….dom to express ourselves:-P

That you guys kick ass and you make me look important with all the texts. I geuss what im tryin to say is….. I love you guys

Heya mum is there any chance u can pik me bk up becky jst dumpd me cos i wantd 2 go sleep.what a bitch! Owel il c u 2moz if u cant pik me up. Love you

1.Always giving free texts 2.Free updates on celebrities 3.Unbelievable known facts 4.Free sim card 5.Nice operaters 6.Logos good 7.Always giving free calling credit 8.Always on time with refill 9.Lets no when next refill is 10.Colours good 11.Sends good questions 12. Funny pictures 13.Can depend on blyk 14. Friendly 15.Good competitions 16.Happy 1st birthday 17.Sexy 18.Good to get incontact 19.Good for information 20.If lost or been stolen another sim card gets sent to you within 2 weeks

Blyk was in great company at Ad:Tech – Mark Cridge (CEO, Glue London), George Bryant (Founding Partner, The Brooklyn Brothers) and Anthony Lukom (MD, MySpace UK) – at a panel moderated by Alistair Duncan (CEO, MRM Worldwide) entitled ‘Can brands be friends?’

The panel touched on the many challenges for brands wanting to be ‘friends’ with their target audience. Our conclusion? Brands must embrace the power of social media and understand how it can engage them into a direct dialogue and build a long-term relationships (or friendships) – ‘earned media’ as Mark put it.

Furthermore, as Anthony pointed out, social media can be used in multiple ways. It’s not just about above the line; it’s about selling products, engagement, long-term relationships, seeding strategies, customer insight and research.

We’ve seen the power of advocacy driven media at Blyk. Our high net advocacy score coupled with the fact that more than half of our members heard about Blyk through a friend (as a result, we’re calling our members ‘The Recommenders’), validates mobile marketing to young people and illustrates the power of advocacy driven media.

‘It’s the new emerging landscape’ as Alistair said – a new landscape where brands create a relationship over time which achieves much more than just a campaign.

The thorny issue of measurement and price came up; however, there was universal agreement in the power of this media versus traditional forms despite the currently hard-to-define ROI. But for Blyk, it’s cost per engagement that matters and that’s worth a lot more. After all, traditional forms of media are mostly about one hit. Social media is about developing a relationship through an ongoing conversation. And, as Mark rightly reminded us, it’s important to keep that dialogue going and develop it over time. That’s what we’ve learned at Blyk and that’s why most brands come back for more.

And another important note, Ad:Tech marked our first birthday! We are through 200k members, we boast more than 1,000 campaigns and our response rates are amazingly high. But it’s not about the numbers, and it’s probably not even about whether brands can be friends… it’s all about the media environment your brand is in – the place where relationships can be built.

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.

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.

Below are the first in a series of Blyk cases studies to become available on our site. These cases demonstrate how Blyk has been used successfully and effectively by a variety of advertisers across a range of sectors.

Before reading the cases, it’s important to understand that Blyk brings two major shifts in mobile advertising (and actually in advertising altogether) - Blyk enables ‘relevancy’ and it enables ‘dialogue’.

I’ll start with the relevancy part - Unlike other media channels out there, Blyk can enable relevant communication because it knows it’s members. A process that starts when you join and you tell Blyk about your interests. The more you interact with communications on Blyk, the more Blyk learns about you and the better and more relevant it gets. So, advertising is not something to be ‘just tolerated’ but rather it becomes useful information. Blyk hopes to take the word ’spam’ out of the vocabulary as related to mobile advertising.

In terms of dialogue, brands have long expressed the challenge of ‘engaging’ with the youth audience, so Blyk put ‘interactivity and dialogue’ at the core of it’s offering. As you’ll see from the cases, brands engage Blyk members in question/response type interactions. A conversation so to speak. Based on the answer a member gives, he/she will get further messages. For advertisers all responses and interactions by members are tracked, giving great accountability to the campaign. The interactions are also logged against the members’ profiles so that future communications from that advertiser can be even more relevant. Six months of campaigns on Blyk demonstrate that this type of simple, familiar type of interaction leads to tremendous response rates - 29% on average.

Blyk also demonstrates great value on a cost per response basis.

So what you get is high levels engagement coupled with value for money.

- Highest response in most cost effective way - average 29%
- Efficiency through relevant targeting
- High levels of engagement with an audience predisposed to receiving brand messages

(click text link to access case study pdfs)

	One of the best known high street pharmacists in the UK
	Styling products targeted to young males
	A UK government organization that offers advice support and guidance for young people
	One of UK’s leading sports retailers
	A leading range of hair styling products
	One of UK’s best known high street banks
	Book publisher and retailer worldwide
	Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is an independent UK charity
	Leading satelite broadcaster in the UK providing coverage of sports, movies and entertainment and news.
	Specialist in student, budget and independent travel

Look forward to your feedback and keep your eye on this blog for new cases from Blyk in the near future.