IPC titles in calls funded by ads push
Freedom Telecom will launch its service offering free telephone calls in return for listening to advertisements in an exclusive deal with IPC Magazines this week.
The company is also preparing to offer free Internet access calls on the same basis with Internet users having to accept advertising on their screens in return for free call time.
A joint promotion in IPC’s weekly magazine titles Woman, What’s On TV, Woman’s Own and Chat will allow readers to register for Freedom’s Free2Talk telephone service.
The full page promotional ads in the IPC titles are headed: “Free phone calls for a year”. The service offers approximately ten minutes of free calls a day in return for participants listening to ads at the beginning of a call and then every five minutes.
To register for the service participants complete a lifestyle questionnaire. The data then allows advertisers to target consumers who match their target audience profile.
The IPC deal, put together by Mediator, is the first media platform for Freedom Telecom’s service, which goes live on July 7. Later this year the service will be offered through other media.
Freedom Telecom uses the national telecommunications network of Energis and a platform developed by Siemens, which allows companies to select individual customers based around the registration data.
BT announced last month it will also offer free phone calls to consumers who listen to advertising under the Freetime name in a deal with Swedish company GratisTel.
