Orange UK offers Blyk inspired advertising service

The Blyk Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) which relied on advertising has finally, agonizingly, after a 6 month wait, re-emerged after closure, in conjunction with Orange in the UK. There is still supposed to be a similar deal with Vodafone in the Netherlands, but there is no news of that yet.

While details are scarce Orange has launched what it called Orange Shots (more mail shots than whisky shots) which is an advertising service for targeted segments of the Orange UK customer base.

It will start with an audience of 100,000 customers drawn from the Orange pay as you go service marketed at “Monkey” (others are marketed as Dolphin, Racoon and Panther – not exactly UK native animals). Orange says more profiles will quickly follow so it clearly sees this as an across the board service and the advertising will probably be appropriate for the mobile budget of the handset owner.

We expect this to be an opt in service, where advertising revenue is shared with the operator and Blyk, while discounts and extra services are offered to the phone owner.

Blyk has proven that this type of service offers exceptionally good advertising returns, but could not sign up enough MVNO customers to make the service viable hence the new model. But back in July it said that deals would be in place in a matter of days. It’s clearly been months.

The interaction with advertisers will use SMS and MMS, encouraging customers to message back and give views and opinions. In addition to offers, customers will also receive news, gossip, free content, film and games previews, and up to date sports information.

Orange says it has been testing Orange Shots since September with its own content brands including 4Music, Ubisoft, COI and Snickers who have already trialed the service and found it to provide a higher conversion rate than any other media, with response rates of between 21% and 39%.

Marc Overton, VP of Wholesale, Business Development and Partnerships, Orange UK, “Orange Shots will transform mobile advertising as we know it. It’s a win-win for brands, as well as our customers, with advertisers continually seeking new and innovative ways to engage with consumers, and our customers getting rewarded with access to exclusive, interactive content and offers, knowing that they’re tailored specifically to them and their interests.”

Orange says it plans to make Orange Shots available to its entire mobile customer base over time.

Under its own steam Blyk ran over 500 advertising campaigns, with an average response rate of 29%, way above the average for any kind of mobile advertising, which are closer to 6%,