Blyk signs mobile partnership deal with Orange

Blyk has teamed up with mobile network Orange UK in a bid to boost the scale of mobile advertising in the UK.

The deal will put an end to Blyk’s current free-mobile credit model when the partnership kicks in after the summer.

The ad-funded mobile network has acquired more than 200,000 users in the UK since it launched in 2007, all of who receive free credit in exchange for targeted advertising.

Blyk’s customers will be given the option to migrate to Orange’s network or stay on the ad-funded model at the end of August.

Marc Overton, vice-president of wholesale, business development and partnerships at Orange, said: “We’re strengthening our advertising arm and will continue with combining Blyk’s integrated campaigns on a mass market scale. It’s the next step in mobile media, which is about engagement.”

Blyk’s co founder and chief executive Pekka Ala-Pietilä said: “The model is about generating relevant advertising based on profiling.

“Because advertising is relevant, members don’t see it as spam. We have a 25% response rate, but, because of the increase in numbers, we see this as a major building block for Blyk’s international expansion. The next part of the strategy is about partnerships.”