Bubbly is boiling hot in India, with 500,000 users signing up in the first four weeks after launch. The cell phone service enables users to "broadcast" voice messages to a mass audience of followers.
A user signs up to follow family, friends, brands, or a celebrity. Following and posting messages is free. But when a new message is recorded and dispatched, the user receives an alert and can opt to listen for a fee. Average messages are shorter than 30 seconds, and the present cap is one minute.
Bubble Motion, the company behind the Bubbly service, has a revenue sharing business model with resident telecoms, in India, Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel. Bubble Motion takes a slice of the airtime used for message listening.
The pot of gold comes with celebrities, as thousands of fans will most likely dial in for messages. When Bollywood's biggest stars, such as “Three Idiots” Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor began talking about their film on Bubbly, it caused a incredible spike of sign-ups for the not yet officially launched service – and helped make the film a hit.
"It's personal and it's easier for a celeb to connect with their fans using Bubbly rather than a web-based service in which an agent or PR firm might be writing messages,” said Tom Clayton, CEO, Bubble Motion. “We were expecting 10,000 to 20,000 users in the first couple months,” continued Clayton. “We haven’t even really told anyone about it, it’s just sort of grown virally."
Teens and tweens comprise the bulk of the first half million users. Bubbly is currently available in three of 23 cell phone service areas in India. Next markets planned include Japan, Middle East, Europe, and Brazil. These mass, mobile-tech-savvy markets are primed for innovation.
Brand engagement and promotion opportunities abound: celebrity spokesmen “bubble” on location messages, or brand products "bubble” radio style ads. Piggybacking on stars, early digital adopters, Bubbly is a marketer’s dream.
Eschewing traditional advertising/marketing strategies, Bubble Motion’s plan, according to VP, Marketing and Product Management, David Still, is to "grow to hundreds of millions of users through viral and word-of-mouth marketing with very little, if any, marketing spend. In each country we have a different strategy, but a lot of it is around entertainment and sports [celebrities]."
| Privacy Policy | About Us | Contact Us | FAQ 
