Blyk is an ad-funded mobile network offering free 217 texts messages and calls worth 43 minutes every month, for 16 to 24 year olds. In exchange for that enticing offer, interested mobile users will receive 6 targeted mobile ads per day.




MoCoNews had a chance to interview Sales Director Jonathan macdonald and he reported that click-through rates range from 12 to 43%, depending on the format. In terms of demographics:

While Blyk is available to those in the 16-to-24 age bracket, the biggest band of users so far is between 17 and 20, while 19-year-olds are the most prevalent in the subscriber base, MacDonald said. It's a 52/48 percent split in favour of men. At 57 percent, university students are currently the biggest demographic base, with six-formers, college students and school pupils behind.

Blyk is conservative and perhaps realistic since it's only aiming for 100,000 subscribers in 12 months.

Although it is too early to claim success, the free offer is really clever and relevant to its target market.