Blyk, the UK MVNO for people between the ages of 16 and 24, has signed up 100,000 customers, six months ahead of schedule. Blyk claims that response rate (29 percent) to the ads is very high compared to other media.
Blyk launched last year in the UK and has an interesting business model: it provides free mobile phone calls and text messages, no contract, with a catch — you agree to receive up to six messages a day from their advertisers. At present the service is limited to 16-24 year olds living in the UK, but Marko Ahtisaari, one of the founders told me they are expanding to other European countries this year.
Does this mean that young people don’t mind receiving ads, as suggested in this article, in exchange for free calls and text messages? Other studies have shown that young people don’t want to see ads on their mobile phones. Perhaps Blyk’s model does better in that it does offer free calls and text messages, it’s easy to get the service (no contract, they mail you a SIM card that you pop into your phone), and the recipient of the ads actually opted into the service, as opposed to being spammed with ads. In addition, there’s something “cool” about being a member of an invite-only club for young people. Check out their website and you’ll see what I mean.
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