Avesair is betting that “show, don’t tell” is the ultimate marketing mantra in mobile marketing.
The mobile marketing solutions provider, is giving operators worldwide the opportunity to test mobile marketing and gauge return on investment for free through its “RapidFlight” program.
“Throughout the world, a lot of activity is going on with m-marketing but it’s very piece meal,” says Kimo Kong, Avesair’s founder and chief operating officer. “It’s unique to a region or small in scale, and it’s causing confusion about what mobile marketing is and what goes into it.”
The program is a direct result of conversations Avesair executives had with operators and marketing firms, the company’s potential customers.
“We were spending a lot of time explaining [mobile marketing], answering the same types of questions,” says Kong. “Because this is an embryonic market, we’ve had to do a lot of evangelizing and educating.”
While operators are heavily invested in data services, they are not ready to move toward mobile marketing because they see it as difficult to implement and not readily acceptable to their users, Kong says.
“The number one issue that comes into play is capitalization of new technologies,” Kong explains. “But growth is really critical so there has to be the expenditure.”
Operators were also very concerned about not being intrusive, maintaining a high quality of service and protecting customer information, which Kong says are all high priorities for Avesair’s technology.
Potential customers all ask what would be the results of a mobile marketing program, and how would they benefit, says Kong.
The RapidFlight programs allows Avesair to lead an operator (or media company) through the marketing trial process, from set-up to completion, providing the operator with an opportunity to test a mobile marketing program before implementing it, and demonstrate how it can reduce customer churn and increase average revenue per user (ARPU).
“We say, here are the resources you need, the hardware and the software, we lay out a trial plan, conduct the plan, and measure it against the ROI benchmarks we have set,” says Kong. “We’ve thought through this process and can give guidance. Operators don’t know where to start, but we do.”
An m-marketing program can be up and running in two to four weeks, and the actual technology only takes a couple of days to install. “It’s really more a case of identifying the business objectives,” says Kong. “The last thing you want is to do this nonchalantly.”
According to Avesair, operators will see for themselves that m-marketing increases revenue, drives data services, and forges better relationships between the operator, their marketing partners and subscribers.
Kong says the small number of customers that have already tried RapidFlight, in both Asia and North America, are surprised by the results of the trial run. “We’ve found their expectations are set at one level and they achieve greater results than expected. The number one reaction we get is, ‘Wow! This thing is better than we hoped for.'”
The length of the trial varies, depending on the operators’ business objectives, but Kong says they can range from 30 days to up to six months. The trials can also be phased in, allowing different applications to take effect at different time periods down the road.
While Avesair is not limiting the types of companies that take advantage of RapidFlight, Kong says it is necessary to find organizations that have shown an interest and already had discussions about implementing an m-marketing program. “We do this on our nickel, so we’re making sure it’s justifiable for the organization as well as Avesair.”
No end date for the program has been set.
In February, Avesair acquired WindWire, creating a single-source provider of mobile marketing solutions for operators, marketers and content providers. RapidFlight is just another step in the company’s progression, according to Kong.
While Avesair has “lost some people and added some people,” it is continuing, Kong says, with its “one-product approach, which should come together fully this fall.” He cites a “tremendous up-tick” in market activity and RFPs from operators around the world as signs that the company’s future is solid.
“The marketing is materializing. We would have liked it to grow quicker, but we’re trying to be patient,” he says.
