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Tuesday Sep 25, 2007

Is there any such thing as a free mobile deal?

Want to get loads of free minutes and texts every month? If you can cope with being bombarded with advertising then a new service called Blyk could be just your thing.

In exchange for 217 texts and 43 minutes a month you'll get sent up to six branded messages each day. Beyond that you can top up at 10p a text or 15p a minute.

On one hand it sounds like a plum deal. You're skint, you need to use a mobile and, really, what harm can six targeted messages each day do? If you sign up, you understand the terms, the corporates get to reach a notoriously difficult group, and everyone's happy.

On the other, I can't help but see this as exploitation. Blyk openly says it's targeting universities to get people to join and we all know how hard-up students are now the top-up fees are in force. Is this really such a good deal? Look at some of the mobile deals that are around nowadays, and think about how much you use your mobile each month – 43 minutes a month doesn't exactly cut the mustard. One long phone call and it's all gone.

Plus, I'm sure if you work out the equivalent ad spend it would cost the likes L'Oreal or STA to directly reach this many young people, it would equate to a great deal more than a few free phone minutes each month. And they've got a guarantee that the audience will see the ad – even if they just delete it – it's a much more captive audience than a traditional ad placed in a magazine or web banner. I can't help but feel that the big boys have more to gain here.

I guess it's got me so wound-up because it's the exact opposite approach we took with TheSite.org on mobile. Like these advertisers, we want as many of you to see our content as possible, but not so we can benefit – so you can. We figured that loads of 16-25 year-olds have better access to mobiles than a computer, so by creating a special site with mobile-friendly articles and services, we hope that more young people will get the help they need. Oh yeah – it's at our expense too

Maybe I'm over-reacting? Will you be signing up for a Blyk sim? I guess the proof will be in the popularity...

Posted by Hannah ( 3:23 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]