In an effort to catch up with O2, Orange plans to launch a new mobile advertising service based upon technology it acquired with the purchase of Blyk. The new Orange Shots service plans to go live on Feb. 1 with the aim of attracting brands that want to reach Orange's Pay As You Go Monkey customer base, which offers free music and texts to customers when they top up, and has about 100,000 subscribers.
The company, which boldly claims that Shots will transform mobile advertising, said that new profiles and customer segments will quickly follow on from those using the Monkey tariff, with the plan to make Orange Shots available to its entire mobile customer base over time. Orange said that tests indicated that Shots gained response rates of 21 per cent to 39 per cent, up a bit from Blyk 25 per cent.
Those agreeing to use Shots will be able to message back using SMS or MMS with their views and opinions, as well as receiving a number of 'benefits', such as news and gossip, amusing and entertaining content, film and games previews, and up to date sports information.
Orange VP of wholesale, business development and partnerships, Marc Overton, said: "Shots is a win-win for brands and 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."
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