Ad-Funded Blyk Sees Future With Carriers, Not Standing Alone
Ad-funded mobile network Blyk is not shutting its sole own-brand MVNO operation—but it has shelved future MVNO launches, and now sees its future only in partnership with mobile carriers themselves.
Confusion reigned after NMA on Wednesday reported the youth-targeted service, which gives air-time and texts in return for receiving ads but is so far operational only in the UK, was “preparing to close down its direct-to-consumer business to focus on operator partnerships”. Others such as GoMoNews interpreted this as the closure of the UK service, which runs off Orange’s network, and, with it, Blyk in its entirety.
But neither is quite the case. UK CEO of Blyk Antti Öhrling told me the outfit is getting out of the standalone MVNO market - it’s shelved plans to replicate its UK MVNO in Holland and Belgium, where it has teams in place, and it won’t be rolling out any more MVNOs. The UK service is now merely a “proof of concept”, a company statement said today, but there’s no current plan to close it. The focus has shifted toward Blyk seeking stronger partnerships with carriers rather than operating an own-brand service, a move that could lead to more favorable access costs or even carriers offering ad-funded tariffs, with Blyk in the background.
More on Blyk strategy after the jump.
Öhrling told me Blyk is in “active” discussions for partnerships with carriers around the world, but that this is part of the same strategy shift the company announced back in November. He said “discussions of MVNOs are irrelevant” as Blyk has “always been a media company” - carriers are interested in its media services and its ability to get an average 25 percent clickthrough rate from users: “A media company is very different from an (operator). The one thing the operator does have is the value of the opted-in (user) - that is the starting point for any dialogue with consumers.”
—Not closing UK, not selling technology: Öhrling wouldn’t comment on what the move away from MVNO means for the existing UK service - but no closure is planned and it seems likely that, should a UK operator partner be found, current Blyk users will be transferred to the new partner service. Öhrling also denied NMA’s report that it will sell its technology, which covers everything from ad platform, campaign management, user experience and audience management and technology.
—- Are the ads really working?: The expectations of a closure are perhaps understandable. Blyk has gathered 200,000 users since its launch in September 2007 but has been dogged by skepticism from the start, despite the heavyweight credentials of its management team and investors. One media buyer who has bought space on Blyk and spoke with us anonymously said the “jury is still out” on the service - he’s concerned whether the 16-24 target audience is really engaging with the messages, or just juggling another handset just to get the free minutes.
—A response to the recession? Actually, no: “Everyone has been impacted by downturn, we have seen month-over-month growth, but we can’t say what it would have been if there was no downturn. But the downturn did not trigger the new strategy - deep discussions with operators started before last summer.” Whilst the UK mobile market is growing, advertisers “still find it extremely complicated…and difficult to use, Öhrling said; but: “We do feel we came out at the right time.”
Related StoriesPosted In: Advertising, Countries, Europe, UK
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