VCUpgrade.mobi – Vodacom South Africa’s Mobile Upgrade Portal (Multimedia Solutions)
SITUATION
Vodacom is South Africa’s leading cellular network. With the highest market penetration, Vodacom has the largest user base locally, and in neighbouring African countries. Vodacom currently offers their customers 2 main contract types, namely traditional contracts and prepaid vouchers that are used to recharge their available balance. It has always been a serious drive for Vodacom to move their prepaid base onto contracts to increase revenue and retentions, together with motivating clients who are on Contract to renew their package types and upgrade their handsets.
However, the customer experience at that time of Upgrading their contract was very negative. Not only were customers never aware of their upgrade status, but when they did decide to upgrade, the process was marred by long waiting times in store queues, improper help regarding features of new handsets, or waiting on the line to speak to a call centre agent!
TACTICS
With these concerns in mind, Multimedia Solutions implemented a Mobile Portal driven by all media types (TV, Radio, Print, MMS, SMS, and Mobile Marketing), to not only notify users that they are due for an upgrade, but also drive users to the VCUpgrade MobiSite where they could upgrade their contract handsets without the traditional waiting periods and queues. Upgrades would be facilitated easily, with no need from the user to ever contact the Vodacom call centre, directly through the mobi site!
Media used throughout the multiple campaigns included:
• TV Ads
• Radio ads
• Mobile banner advertising on Vodafone live!
• Multiple MMS campaigns targeted towards customers who were due for an upgrade
• Print Ads
• Newspaper print ads
The Mobile medium was found to be ideal, as it targeted the very device that was the focus of the campaign. Users were able to receive the marketing message and respond to it immediately.
Furthermore, the mobi site allows users to access relevant device information on handsets they know they are able to upgrade to, ensuring they are able to make an informed decision before requesting the upgrade.
ACTION
Multimedia Solutions developed and managed:
• ALL TV Ads, including 10 second stings and squeezebacks featured during the tri-nations rugby games
• ALL MMS campaigns used to market the mobi site and special promotions
• Print Ads
• Radio Ads
• SMS Marketing
• Upgrade portal, together with user applications and reporting
With more mobile phones in the world than televisions and PCs combined, and with penetration levels approaching 90% of the adult population, it allows advertisers and direct marketers to target a previously unreachable mass market.
As a medium, mobile offers advertisers the ability to:
• Select a target audience that matches a target market profile – generating more interest, actions, sales, and profit!
• Maximize budget and reduce wasteful broadcasting
• Guarantee communications are seen and heard by the audience specified
• Integrate mobile media direct response mechanisms into ATL and BTL campaigns, measurable for performance reporting!
• Convert response to actions and close the deal, following through with personalized communications.
EXECUTION
Vodacom experienced much success in the uptake of their Upgrade offers thanks to MMS campaigns run by Multimedia Solutions and various Radio and TV advertising campaigns that served to inform and notify subscribers across the broadest range possible. However, the final stage of the Uptake was still solely in the hands of the customer; Vodacom relied on the subscriber walking into an outlet and physically upgrading. In addition to this, various other problems existed with the process surrounding a subscriber upgrading his handset. Most subscribers, despite the best efforts, still remained unaware of their contract status and whether they qualified for an upgrade or not. As a result, they simply would not.
Multimedia Solutions proposed a completely digital approach to marketing upgrade offers, informing and educating the customer as to new handset capabilities, as well as allowing them to apply directly over their phone for the upgrade offering of their choice, via the VCUpgrade mobi site.
The first phase of the MMS campaign consisted of MMS messages sent to all customers who were overdue for an upgrade. The MMS notified the subscriber of his current status, and provided him with a link with which to visit the VCUpgrade mobi site.
The mobi site served as the central point of communication between Vodacom and the subscriber. All information was accessible via the mobi site regarding the promotional campaign, and visitors were able to immediately request to be contacted regarding the particular deal.
RESULTS
The initial MMS campaign created a hype around the giveaway, with more information available on the mobi site once accessed.
Total Site Hits: 90,331
Total Page Views: 1,028,398
Upgrade Requests via MobiSite: 10,031
Short code requests for Direct Link via MMS campaigns, TV Ads and Radio: 47,278
The same upgrade procedure was followed with the Vodacom Business base – High end users with large contract spend and low uptake on Upgrades. Over a single month, the MMS with call-to-action to the mobi site, resulted in a 600% increase in uptake!
Each MMS that is delivered features a short code that users can SMS to and receive a direct link to the mobi site. Once activated, the link allows us to track the users who access the site and measure exact interest.
URL: www.vcupgrade.mobi
Ten Trends that Will Affect the Future of Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is a high growth sector, with multinational brands committing significant advertising dollars to the mobile channel. Lenco Mobile is an award winning, international mobile marketing company that has successfully executed thousands of mobile campaigns worldwide since 2006. In this white-paper, Michael Levinsohn, CEO and President of Lenco Mobile talks about Ten Trends That Will Affect The Future Of Mobile Marketing.
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Lenco Mobile Sees Growth Opportunities in the United States for MMS Solutions
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Lenco Mobile Inc.’s CEO & President, Michael Levinsohn discussed the trends in the mobile industry and market opportunities for his company in an interview earlier today. Levinsohn noted that during 2010, wireless subscribers in the United States sent over 2 trillion text messages and 57 billion MMS messages, according to CTIA – The Wireless Association. This represents growth of 31% and 62% respectively over 2009. This growth, together with the increased number of smart phones will continue to create pressure on wireless carriers to roll out improved infrastructure.
According to industry experts Chetan Sharma Consulting, wireless penetration in the United States crossed the 100% mark in December 2010. This figure is supported by CTIA – The Wireless Association who estimate that there are now 302 million wireless subscribers in the United States. Average Revenue Per User, the industry metric to measure performance continues a decline for voice usage in the United States. While more time is spent talking on mobile phones, the revenue generated by the carriers is decreasing. Revenue for data services and messaging however continues to steadily increase.
Levinsohn noted, “The trends in the United States mirror what is happening elsewhere in the world. The bulk of MMS messaging here is what we describe as P2P or person to person messaging. As brand owners and wireless carriers start to deploy A2P or application to person messaging, the volume will grow significantly. All of this augurs well for Lenco Mobile as we continue to expand internationally.”
“Carriers are all looking for an integrated business solution that drives ARPU and helps them retain customers. When the market reaches 100% saturation, the fight to retain customers is going to increase dramatically, and carriers can’t simply throw money at the problem. They need to become more efficient in managing subscriber relationships, which is our core competency.”
Levinsohn went on to add, “We are also making excellent progress in the international market and we have three new carrier installations that we expect to come on stream within the next 30 days. In each instance the carriers have identified the value that we have to offer both technically and strategically and they have given us the go ahead to install our messaging solutions, which ultimately means new revenue for us. Unfortunately, due to the sensitive nature of the contracts we will no longer provide specific details of each new installation, but we will provide commentary on broader market developments.”
RadioLoyalty™ Solution Just Right For Some Stations
Broadcasters looking for a comprehensive solution to their digital streaming needs may find what they need with RadioLoyalty™. RadioLoyalty™ has put together a universal platform that provides stations with streaming and ad insertion, a mobile app, loyalty program for listeners and revenue opportunities.
“We are providing internet radio stations of all sizes the opportunity to be profitable and to be able to grow their audiences with predictable online revenue without having to make more investments in technology, personnel, or third party services.” says Jeff Pescatello, EVP at Lenco Mobile, the company that owns RadioLoyalty™.
Pescatello says they are seeing a lot of success selling video prerolls and mid-rolls on audio streams. Revenue is assigned to stations based on the number of listener hours they stream. Stations can generate as much as .03 to .05 per US listener hour on the platform if they are using the company’s streaming and universal player services. Stations can assign all of their online inventory to the program for RadioLoyalty™ to sell, or sell some themselves as well.
So what about video mid-rolls within an audio stream, is anyone watching? Pescatello says that’s one of the great things about their universal player which encourages listeners to interact. Listeners can rate songs, search, share music and more, which makes the video impressions worthwhile. In fact, they see 7 or 8 interactions per listener per hour. Listeners can register and then earn points for listening as well, something that translates to longer listening for stations.
For more information on RadioLoyalty’s™ offerings, visit their website at RadioLoyalty™.
Lead411 Awards Southern California’s Hottest Companies of 2011
This month, Lead411 recognizes fast-growing companies in the Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara areas with its just released list of “Hottest Companies in Southern California for 2011″.
A result of daily scouring of press releases, business articles, company launches, and other media materials regarding new fundings, Lead411 has come up with this exciting selection of aggressively-growing companies in the software, wireless, hardware, internet, or media industries.
To qualify, companies must either meet a 100% increase in revenues or receive over $9M in funding in the past 2 years.
“We have been tracking fast-moving companies for our customers for the past 10 years,” said Tom Blue, CEO of Lead411, “and we felt it was important to recognize these growing brands publicly.”
Want to know which companies made it and get know a little more about them? Check out the Hottest Companies in Southern California here.
Lead411 has also come out with a press release, make sure to also read through it for more information.
Congratulations to all the awardees!
Names of companies included:
2 Wheel Bikes , ACCESS 360 Media, Accruent LLC, Advanstar Communications Inc. , Avaak Inc, BlackLine Systems, Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc., Buzz Media Inc, CALIENT Technologies Inc, Campus Explorer, Central Desktop, ClariPhy Communications, Inc, Clicker, Contour Energy Systems, CORAID Inc, Covario, DECA, EdgeCast Networks Inc, Eucalyptus Systems Inc, Everbridge, Factual Inc., FireScope, Fulcrum Microsystems Inc, HauteLook, Imagine Communications, Increase Visibility LLC, Kareo, Kyriba Corporation, Leisurelink Inc, Lenco Mobile Inc, Magento, Medsphere Systems Corporation, MindTouch Inc, myShape, Newport Media, Inc, NextWave Wireless Inc, Nirvanix, Inc, Onestop Internet Inc, OpenX Technologies Inc, Perfect Market Technologies, Inc, Pixeled Business Systems, Inc, Rayspan Corporation, RazorGator Inc, RightScale LLC, Row 44, Service-now.com, Sezmi Corporation, ShoeDazzle.com Inc, SmartDrive Systems Inc, SolarFlare Communications, Inc, Sonos, Inc, The Rubicon Project, TouchCommerce Inc, Transpera, TrueCar Inc, uSamp, Viewdle, Wanova Technologies, WebVisible Inc, Wispry Inc, Xirrus, ZillionTV, Zumbox Inc.
Lenco Mobile Reports 2010 First Quarter Financial Results
May 24, 2010 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) — Lenco Mobile announced its financial results for the first quarter of financial 2010, and provided updated information on its international expansion.
In a May 17 release, Lenco reported revenue for the three months ended March 31, was up 161 percent to $3,784,220 compared to $1,448,720 for the three months ended March 31, 2009. Revenue for the mobile phone business segment was up 29 percent to $1,099,000 and revenue for the online operations was $2,365,020. The online operations were acquired on March 1, 2009, making first quarter comparatives year-over-year not meaningful.
Since October 2009, wireless carriers have sent more than 250 million MMS messages using Lenco Mobile’s MMS messaging platform, which is installed in South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The MMS messaging platform enables wireless carriers to send high volumes of MMS messages in a cost effective and efficient manner.
Lenco Mobile owns and operates businesses focused on the mobile marketing and Internet sectors.
Lenco Mobile Inc. Announces Successful Pilot of New Zero Carbon Footprint Mobile Statement Product
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – (Business Wire) Lenco Mobile Inc. (Pink Sheets: LNCM) today announced the successful launch of its new mobile phone statement application, which has a zero carbon footprint impact.
Michael Levinsohn, CEO of Lenco Mobile Inc., said: “We have successfully piloted our new mobile phone statement application which totally eliminates the paper involved in communicating with customers regarding their monthly statements. The pilot was carried out with a major retailer in South Africa and the response from their customers was exceptional. We expect the product to be fully functional in the retail environment with a number of our retail partners during the next sixty days.”
The application was developed by Multimedia Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenco Mobile Inc. Instead of posting statements to clients; banks, retailers and utilities are able to deliver an electronic statement to their customer’s mobile phone and track whether the message was opened or not. “By opening the message, a client is confirming electronically that they have received the notification from their bank or retailer. Consumers can also respond to a message by linking online from their mobile phone to a mobi site operated by Multimedia Solutions on behalf of our clients,” said Eddie Groenewald, CEO of Multimedia Solutions. Multimedia Solutions has already filed a provisional patent application on the business process, which will help to create a barrier to entry against competitors.
“Once again we have demonstrated that we can use technology to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs. By eliminating the cost of the envelope, the stamp and the physical statement, clients are able to generate significant savings immediately. In an era where we all have a responsibility to the environment, we believe that mobile statements represent a big opportunity for us,” said Levinsohn.
About Lenco Mobile Inc.
Lenco Mobile Inc. owns and operates businesses focused on the high-growth mobile marketing and Internet sectors. Its subsidiary Multimedia Solutions, based in South Africa, provides MMS message solutions to mobile network operators and brand owners using its proprietary Flight Deck platform. Multimedia Solutions is a service provider to the two largest Mobile Network Operators in Africa and is expanding internationally by offering its products and services to other mobile phone networks in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia.
Several of the MMS messaging platform applications developed by Multimedia Solutions are already in use by two of the ten largest Mobile Network Operators in the world. Nielsen recently reported that in the third quarter of 2008, mobile subscribers sent or received an average of 357 text messages per month, compared with 204 phone calls. The average number of text messages sent or received has increased 351 percent since the second quarter of 2006.
Lenco Mobile Inc. also owns recently renamed Lenco Media, Digital Vouchers and CellCard. Lenco Media owns the Admaximizer.com Internet platform, which is used by brand owners to reduce fraud and improve efficiencies in delivering online, performance marketing services. Digital Vouchers is a mobile phone and Internet marketing platform that enables brand owners to extend offers to consumers which can then be redeemed via mobile phones at point of sale in a retail outlet. CellCard provides brand owners with the ability to download mobile content such as a video clip to a mobile phone and also provides a mobile payment platform that can be used to pay for goods and services, either person to person or person to business.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements, including expected industry patterns and other financial and business results that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied by this press release. Such risk factors include, among others: the sustainability of recent growth rates in the digital marketing industry, grow as anticipated; the positioning of Lenco Mobile Inc. products in the market; ability to integrate acquired companies and technology; ability to retain key employees; ability to successfully combine product offerings and customer acceptance of combined products; general market conditions, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, changes to operating systems and product strategy by vendors of operating systems; and whether Lenco Mobile Inc. can successfully develop new products and the degree to which these gain market acceptance. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements in this press release. Neither Lenco Mobile Inc. nor any company mentioned in this release undertake any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results.
Lenco Mobile CEO gives students gift of wisdom
Dec. 24, 2009
By Darla Martin Tucker
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – (www.lasierra.edu) The leader of a fast-growing Santa Barbara-based technology company recently imparted to La Sierra University’s business students one of the best gifts they could receive: his wisdom.
Michael Levinsohn, president and chief executive officer of mobile marketing firm Lenco Mobile Inc. addressed a La Sierra business school assembly earlier this quarter. He inspired students with his insights on success, important skill sets and business management.
Lenco Mobile provides managed technology solutions to brand owners and wireless carriers. The company’s solutions are used by wireless carriers, manufacturers, retailers and brand owners to attract and retain consumers. Using Lenco’s Multimedia Message Services, or MMS, and Internet advertising technology, brand owners can design, manage and execute digital marketing campaigns aimed at cell phones and computers. Lenco has developed mobile marketing campaigns for Electronic Arts, BMW, Toyota, Sony, Vodacom, Clinique, BlackBerry, Nike, Doritos and many other multinational brands.
Lenco has operations in the United States, South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom. On Nov. 9 the company filed a Form 10 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has submitted an application to have its shares traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.
The firm employs 65 people and is forecasting revenue of more than $50 million by the end of 2010. Lenco is profitable and has maintained profitability each year since its inception in 2004. The company carries very low debt, Levinsohn said.
During his assembly talk at La Sierra, Levinsohn advised students to assess their abilities. “What are you really good at?” he asked them. He told students to set themselves up for success by playing up their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses.
The ability to sell is a “key skill,” he told his young audience, and business leaders need to learn to do their homework, listen to their clients and “remember that selling is a numbers game. Eventually you will get to ‘yes.’” He also spoke of the importance of having a fundamental grasp of accounting, “because at the end of the day that’s how you keep score.”
Levinsohn advised the students to create their own good luck through hard work, develop long-term, positive relationships, and do their homework before making big decisions. He described the three key elements of business management as managing people, in part by hiring the right individuals initially, managing information by using processed data to make decisions and managing risk by avoiding big mistakes.
Levinsohn said he manages his days by dividing tasks into three main categories: torpedoes, things he has to do and things he wants to do.
“One must always deal with torpedoes first because they can put you out of business. Then you get around to the things that you have to do and finally the things that you want to do,” he said.
“I thought that part was cool – look for the torpedoes that can sink your business …[and] go have some fun at the end of the day,” said business management sophomore Berney Davidson. He hopes to one day start a business with his brother, Jonathan Davidson. Berney Davidson drew much from Levinsohn’s talk, which was made all the more influential by the CEO’s demeanor. “I liked his happiness. He was very personable. I really liked his approach,” Davidson said.
Sophomore Selam Melese is majoring in several areas including business, finance, and pre-medicine. She plans to open a medical group in the future. Melese was inspired by Levinsohn’s advice, particularly the admonition to build on skills. “You have to love what you’re doing to be good at it,” she said, recalling Levinsohn’s words.
Levinsohn connected with La Sierra’s business school Dean John Thomas through a mutual friend in Redlands. Levinsohn hopes to continue his relationship with the school and pass along his knowledge and experiences to upcoming business executives. School leaders are grateful for his involvement. “We’re excited that a company like Lenco Mobile is choosing to be part of our family,” Thomas said.