Converged Messaging Show Begins In Munich; Marks Debut Of Exclusive Blyk Podcast Series & Mobile Advertising Analysis
MSG’s James Cameron tells me today’s Converged Messaging conference (organized by James and IIR Ltd.) is off to a rousing start. MSG is proud to be a media sponsor of this event, created to push the boundaries and encourage discussion around the pivotal role of mobile messaging in presence, social networking and more engaging (and hence more effective) mobile advertising.
In view of this new convergence around the consumer, MSG will also kick off a special two-part podcast series with Leif Fågelstedt, COO of Blyk – the world’s first ad-funded MVNO. (Thanks James for kicking off your event with a promotion of this series – I’ll look forward to greeting your speakers/attendees online.)
The podcast is timed to Blyk’s one year anniversary, which it celebrated late last week. By way of background, the Finland-based company broke on the scene in the U.K. last year, offering 16- to 24-year-olds 217 free text messages and 43 call minutes a month in return for accepting up to six advertising messages per day. The model is gaining serious traction, and some 100 advertisers, including major brands such as Coca-Cola, L’Oreal and Sky are lining up to push advertising messages to youth who have expressed an interest in hearing what the brands have to say. Over 1,000 campaigns to date.
Another milestone is the September 17 announcement by Blyk that it had exceeded its expectations and increased its total members (users) to 200,000, double the number it had in April. My personal thanks to Irene Nyberg, Blyk Head of Analyst Relations, for inviting me to the invitation-only analyst roundtable in London where this was formally made public, and to Blyk executives Pekka Ala-Pietilä, CEO and Co-founder, Timo Ahopelto, Head of Strategy and Business Development, and Shaun Gregory, Blyk UK Managing Director, for providing a clear explanation of company strategy and objectives.
A special thanks to Jonathan MacDonald for bringing Blyk to my attention in the first place and making a solid case for why this company is one to watch. Jonathan, who recently left Blyk to join Ogilvy, was instrumental in developing Blyk’s breakthrough approach to mobile advertising (one that regards mobile advertising messages as content and encourages youth to co-create their mobile advertising experiences). At first I was skeptic about his enthusiasm for this model (since he was obviously a convert), but a few discussions later I began to see the logic. Stop thinking of Blyk as an MVNO and start thinking of it as a youth-focussed media company (and the fastest-growing such media company in the U.K.) and you’ll get where Blyk is going.
I’ll have more in Part 1 of this podcast a little later this afternoon. (In preparation for a new design MSG is changing servers, so please bear with me. The improvements to the site peg the needle!)
Blyk Analyst Roundtable – Shaun Gregory, Managing Director Blyk UK Sept08
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