Orange to launch Orange Shots mobile ad service
Orange is launching a new mobile advertising service called ‘Orange Shots’ to enable brands to engage and interact directly with targeted segments of the network’s customer base.
The service is launching with full service commercial offers from 1 February following a trial with brands including 4Music, Ubisoft, COI and Snickers. It will initially be available to brands that want to interact with an audience of 100,000 customers from part of Orange’s Pay As You Go Monkey customer base.
Orange Shots will be powered by Blyk Media, which the mobile network took over in July.
It is aiming to extend the initiative to its entire mobile customer base over time, giving brands the opportunity to engage with a variety of specific demographic segments.
Marc Overton, vice president of wholesale, business development and partnerships at Orange UK, says: “Orange Shots will help advertisers continually seeking new and innovative ways to engage with consumers, and our customers getting rewarded with access to exclusive, interactive content and offers, knowing that they’re tailored specifically to them and their interests. It’s more than just a plain SMS, it is a tailored and personalised service based on what the customer wants to hear about.”
The interactive Orange Shots service works across SMS and MMS mobile platforms, encouraging customers to message back and give views and opinions. In addition to offers, customers will also receive a variety of benefits, including exclusive news and gossip, amusing and entertaining content, film and games previews, and up to date sports information.
It says that the audience roll out programme will be considered and measured, so that Orange customers have the opportunity to opt out at any stage. Overton admits that the “opportunities are endless” but adds that security protocols have also been put in place to ensure that Orange customer data will not be shared externally to third parties and youth audiences on Monkey are not sent inappropriate offers.
The roll out of Orange Shots comes just a month after O2 said it is launching a new advertising service enabling personalised mobile ads for its customers called O2 More. The company’s media arm, O2 Media, has already signed up leading brands including Adidas, Blockbuster, Interflora and Cadbury Gifts Direct, to participate in the scheme, which is headed by Shaun Gregory, the former CEO of Blyk.
