Discussion with Antti Öhrling co-founder of Blyk

Could you describe your services?
Blyk is the free Pan-European mobile operator providing free text and voice to young consumers in return for interacting with advertising. From our studies we know that 16-24 year old people perceive advertising in mobile as positive – bringing color and content to their phones when relevant to their likes and dislikes. When we asked in 5 European countries from 3,070 of the 16-24 year olds on their opinion, close to 80% were willing to exchange ads to free communications.

Will you propose a Blyk-branded mobile phone?
At this stage, unfortunately, we have decided not to reveal the details of our consumer offering for competitive reasons. However, we see that handset is a key part of self-expression among the young generation, and our service has elements that fulfill these needs.

What’s is your business model?
Blyk is giving free text messages and voice for its young members, funded from the advertising revenue that Blyk acquires with its own and its partners’ sales activities.

What are your future plans?
Blyk has two goals near-term: First, to ensure that young members receive what they most value in mobile – free communications. Second, Blyk plans to become a Pan-European network, and expanding to new countries is another top priority. We are currently looking at many European countries including France.

How brands react to your offering?
Brands see Blyk being the first advertising channel in mobile to reach the 16-24 year old demographic. Being "channel" includes operating like any media that lives entirely or partially from advertising: having strong and distinctive brand, comprehensive delivery channel via purpose-built technology and captive audience.

When will you be in France?
We hope as quickly as we can!

Vidéo : Marko Ahtisaari is responsible for the brand and design of Blyk