Blyk Lives: Paired With Unanimis By Orange; No Longer Free

Pekka Ala-Pietilä of Blyk, Marc Overton of Orange

So the pieces have come together for how Orange plans to use its relationship with Blyk, the European company that once ran a “free” ad-supported mobile service for 16-24 year-olds but turned away from the free model after failing to make it work financially. The UK mobile operator today announced Orange Shots, an SMS/MMS-based advertising service “powered by Blyk.”

Gone is the age restriction and gone too is the free service, though…

While Blyk will provide the technology behind the service, it will be sold through Unanimis, the digital ad agency that Orange bought last August for an undisclosed sum.

Blyk ended its service with a mere 200,000 subscribers on its network – not the critical mass that major brands like to target with their marketing activities. Orange will be starting Shots with an even smaller number: it says ads initially will be sent out to 100,000 people, users “who have opted in to receive contact”.

“New profiles and customer segments will quickly follow, matching Orange

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