Blyk, the yoof-oriented MVNO, provides free voice minutes and texts to its 16-24 year old demographic in return for watching targeted adverts via their handsets. Once the free balance is used up, or if the user want to browse the web, the phone can be topped up like a regular pay-as-you-go SIM.
The UK Mobile blog SMS Text News has spotted a questionnaire on the Blyk website that suggests the company are considering extending their free service to include data.
Blyk want to know how important free data is to their customers, while making the point that other services might have to be sacrificed to fit the current advert/pricing model. They also want to know want kind of services are likely to be used the most - web access, social networking, chat etc.
Although Blyk are unlikely to be able to provide a huge amount of free data via advertising, this could still make a big difference to the amount their customers try to use and might even encourage some digital holdouts to give the mobile ‘net a try.
Here at Pocket Picks we are all far, far too old to be on the Blyk network and no amount of vitamins and moisturiser is going to change that. If you have given the service a whirl, why not take a break from drinking cheap cider and performing urban street dance and let us know what you think in the comments? Would the prospect of free data make putting up with adverts worthwhile?
Blyk launched last year in a blaze of publicity, being an MVNO operator offering its users free texts and voice minutes in exchange for receiving adverts on their phones.
It started with a roster of 44 advertisers, including the likes of Coca Cola, Sony Ericsson, Ford and Adidas. It’s just announced that it’s boosted that number to 117, including STA Travel and government agency the COI.
There aren’t any updated figures on how many subscribers it’s got though. Blyk says it’s on course for 100,000 by the end of this year, but has faced criticism from the ad industry about a perceived slow takeup.
(via Mobile Entertainment)
Less than two months since it launched, Blyk, the ad-funded MVNO for young mobile users, has been crowing about its usage figures.
Blyk offers free calls and texts in return for the user receiving targeted ads to their phone. Now sales director Jonathan MacDonald has told MocoNews that users are clicking through from the ads they receive.
The idea of mobile advertising hasn’t really convinced the industry so far, but Blyk’s performance, although modest so far does hint that it might just work after all.
Apparently click-through rates are running at 12-43 percent, depending on the format the ads are received in (SMS, MMS, photos, animations and videos).
Blyk targets 16-24 year olds, although most of its users are 17-20, with a roughly even split between boys and girls. Unsurprisingly, considering its offering ‘free minutes and texts’, university students make up most of the users.
Blyk’s one-year subscriber target is a modest 100,000, but even so, MacDonald didn’t say how many had signed up so far. No doubt he’ll tell us if Blyk hits its target.
Blyk, the ad-supported mobile MVNO aimed at young mobile users (well, 16-24 year olds), has embraced modern advertising techniques with the release of four viral videos to help spread the word.
Blyk launched in September touting itself as a ‘free’ MVNO for young people, with the only caveat being that they had to accept targeted ads from mainstream brands.
Blyk has now engaged four young illustrators to each produce a one-minute long video, which are then posted on YouTube and other video sharing sites. The aim is to get them noticed by potential Blyk users with a ‘cool’ viral advertising campaign they’ll share with their mates.
It’s an interesting move, but ultimately it feels very cynical. Most of the biggest viral ads have normally been ones that companies haven’t sanctioned or deliberately released in the hope they get spread by word of mouth - one example was the controversial video of a cat being decapitated by a car.
Blyk, the virtual network for young people offering free minutes and texts for adverts, has been officially launched in the UK.
Blyk is aimed solely at mobile users aged 16-24, and promises 43 free minutes and 217 texts a month to subscribers. All they have to do in return is to accept MMS adverts from mainstream brands like Borders, Coke, JJB Sports, Xbox and Adidas being sent to their phones.
The service is apparently ‘invitation only’, but people can get invited by sending a text to a shortcode number. They’ll then receive a free Sim card to put in their MMS-enabled phones.
When signing up, users must enter a demographic profile of themselves including personal information and their tastes in fashion, music and so on. They’ll then receive targeted adverts from up to 40 brands that have signed up so far.
The free allowance is cross-network but only in the UK and if they go over their allowance, they’ll pay only 15p per minute for calls and 10p per text. Browsing the mobile Internet (Including Blyk’s own site) will cost 99p per MB.
[Blyk website]
