Blyk sees the bigger picture

May 14th, 2009

NMA have published a misinformed view on what Blyk is up to. And some, have even gone a bit further, saying that Blyk is closing shop. So I thought that it might be a good idea to set the record straight.

Blyk was the first to understand the need for deep engagement with its customers – it is not an MVNO it is a media built upon the principal of that engagement. Bravely and for all the right reasons Blyk understood the model of interruptive comunications was not dying it was dead as a dodo. Instead of trying to squeeze the last breathes out of the dying beast Blyk has offered brands a new model of communicating with their customers.

What other media offers a response rate of 25%+ Who can match that? And critical mass has followed Blyk. In fact it met its target number of 100,000 customers 6 months early. It now hos 200,000 members – and Blyk’s Shift^ programme of working closely with ts members has shone a light on future possibilites of mobile and commerce.

And of course Blyk, is offering an opportunity to the operators to rethink some of their revenue models, so naturally there’s a high level of interest from the operator community.

So I would have thought that NMA and others would have been more interested in leading a mature discussion on the future of media, and being a key player in that debate.

Its easy to be negative. But Blyk is part of the vanguard that is creating new value for advertisers and brands and is transforming the communications industry. The Yankee Group wrote,

The only reason Europeans have not yet adopted ad- supported payment models for mobile services is because it has not been offered to them on terms that are acceptable and attractive. This will change. Our most recent survey of European mobile phone users revealed that 26% would avail of ad- supported models for mobile entertainment services, and 19% for basic communications services such as those offered by Blyk

The industry just needs to figure out how to make the user?s experience tolerable, and preferably enjoyable.

The recent history of our media communications revolution will be defined as Before Blyk and After Blyk – Mobile is the 7th Mass Media and it offers a degree of targeting and personalisation that is unmatched and unrivaled.

Our recent history has been deeply affected by the increased speed of technological development plus the convergence and proliferation of the audio-visual, mobile, IT and personal computing industries, increased internet and bandwidth penetration, and media choice. These developments have impacted businesses and the marketing community. As a result of these developments, business itself is faced with a tougher job when innovation and flexibility are the markers for competition, rather than efficiency being the fundamental driver of value.

So lets celebrate Blyk’s achievements, and chide those that are unwilling or unprepared to embrace exploring what the near future of our media communications landscape looks like.

As Marcel Proust wrote

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

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