TagText Ltd. Mobilizes Avatars & Messaging For Teens & Receives GBP 1 Million Funding; What Role Will Brands Have?
Now I know why Ben-Scott Robinson, TagText Marketing Director, was so keen to meet up during my latest trip. His company has formally secured GBP 1 million in funding – and the news is almost as impressive as the statement offered by Russell Buckley, chairman of the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) and an early investor in the company. As he put it: “The TagText team impressed me with its vision for rich, platform-agnostic, personalized and expressive messaging, which I feel is an important component in the evolution of mobiles.” TagText is currently undergoing user trials and beta testing prior to launch.
What does TagText do? At a high level, it allows young people to send animated avatars to their friends via mobile and the Internet. Future releases will extend this sharing to social networks (and TagText’s conscious focus on Google’s OpenSocial API extends its reach across all the OpenSocial partners).
Dig deeper and TagText is an ad-funded freemium service that allows teens to purchase and personalize their avatars with cool clothes, branded accessories, and – coming soon – band memorabilia. That’s where the brands come in – and that’s also where things get interesting. Ben informs me that the company is in discussion with two major labels and just did a deal with a kids’ TV channel (details of which will be announced in a press release soon).
Ben tells me a major differentiator of TagText (compared with other avatar schemes I have seen come and go) is the emphasis on self-expression. To encourage this the company has avoided 3D and anything that makes the avatars look – well – generic. “They look cool, wear properly styled clothes, and allow the kids to express themselves in every way.”
Putting on my Jonathan MacDonald hat I must ask if these avatars – intensely personal representations of their owners – also have a voice, particularly in the advertising experience they participate in.
The TagText platform is built to accommodate a “two-way conversation around the brand.” In fact, Ben tells me several brands, including a soft drink company, are looking at TagText for just that reason.
But feedback is just a part of it. TagText’s main focus is on viral marketing and effectively inserting the brand in the exchange between friends. As Ben put it: “Kids pass the brand on that way, as part of their own communication. And that’s the most accepted form of advertising…Kids accept peer-to-peer recommendation more than they buy into straight advertising.” Point well taken…
Ben and I had some great conversations before my trip, but a client meeting prevented from hooking up this time around. Won’t happen again. I look forward to a demo/briefing and am even more excited at the prospect of getting Ben on board for a few opinion(ated) columns for MSG. He joins a roster of authors and experts literally lining up to make the MSG platform their own. Let the sparks fly!
