Blyk ad idea working

Blyk launched in the UK in October, targeting university students for its offer of free calls and texts in return for receiving advertising.

Although analysts expressed doubt the model would be successful, Blyk UK sales director Jonathan McDonald said customer click-through rates ranged between 12 and 43 per cent. This compares with advertising on Vodafone’s mobile internet reporting click-through rates of 3.5 per cent, and PC internet being just 0.5 per cent.

Said McDonald: “It’s simple logic – we have a database of 100 per cent opted-in people who have signed up knowing they will receive up to six advertisements a day. The advertisements are specifically targeted to their preferences, which they have stated in advance.

“A lot of blogs have written that our rates are going to fall as the novelty wears off for users. But people who have written that have missed the major point; that every day our service is becoming more profiled to the user, so as it becomes more relevant to them, click through rates will go up.

“An advertiser’s campaign size will also go down, as the higher relevance means they target less people, but through more campaigns.”