ISTANBUL, January 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Since the launch of Turkcell's Tone & Win (TonlaKazan) in May 2008 as the world's first RingBackTone (RBT) advertising platform, this loyalty program for subscribers has grown to over 200,000 members, boasting an unconventional, unique and innovative media channel for advertisers to garner brand recognition. Using the Tone & Win platform, Turkcell members select branded content and let their callers listen to a branded RingBackTone instead of a regular ring tone.
Turkcell Business Development Chief Executive Officer Cenk Serdar said, "The Tone & Win platform not only integrates a rewarding loyalty program for our customers with an unconventional new media channel for brands, it also has reached over 200,000 members since its launch, creating more than six million monthly impression in six months. Additionally, the platform is decreasing the churn rates of Turkcell subscribers who are Tone & Win members by giving free text and minutes in return for sending sms/mms ads daily. This new ad-funded business model shows great promise and the potential to surpass other models in mobile marketing."
Turkcell subscribers win airtime or credit depending on the amount of time their callers listen to their RBT advertisement music. On average, a Tone & Win subscriber wins 65 units / 20 minutes monthly, while this number can reach up to 150 units / 40 minutes for some subscribers whose incoming voice call traffic is above average. While during the beta period only a limited amount of members were able to register for Tone & Win, it is now available to all Turkcell subscribers. It is possible to become a member of Tone & Win through Web, Wap and SMS channels. Members select the advertisement music of the brand of their choice as the RBT content they want their social community to listen to.
Fifty different brands have launched 72 campaigns using the Tone & Win platform with a minimum of two weeks duration since May 7, 2008, including Coca Cola, Unilever, P&G, Nestle, Warner Bros and major national Turkish brands such as Garanti, Akbank, Digiturk, Arcelik. At the end of each Tone & Win campaign, Turkcell offers brands exclusive reports containing members' demographics, socioeconomic status, total impressions and total branded RBT seconds listened to by callers.
An example of a successful targeted advertising campaign created through Tone & Win was the November 2008 launch by Warner Bros of a James Bond 007 Quantum Of Solace branded RBT. Only those Tone & Win members who were between the ages of 13-54, male, and living in the 26 Turkish cities where the movie launched, could select this jingle for their social community.
Tone&Win has been shortlisted in GSMA Global Mobile Awards 09' in "Best Mobile Advertising Service" category while Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA commented "To have been nominated from such a high quality field of more than 450 companies that entered is a tremendous achievement, and we await the announcement of the winners at the next month's Global Mobile Awards evening in Barcelona with great interest.Tone & Win was developed with "4play Digital Workshop," Turkcell's business partner that provides innovative products and ideas.
"Cost Per Listening" pricing model for advertisers
Tone & Win's performance-based pricing model, Cost Per Listening (CPL), charges the brand according to the amount of advertising that has been listened to, thereby providing a completely measurable channel opportunity.
http://www.tonlakazan.com
Turkcell Mobile Marketing
Turkcell mobile marketing creates targeted, cost-effective and measurable media integrated with different technologies for corporations aimed to reach existing or new customers. This makes mobile marketing an unconventional, effective and interactive media highly preferred by brands. With permission database reached to 7.5 million subscribers and innovative products like Tone&Win and Mobile Ticketing, Turkcell mobile marketing has created 650 mobile marketing projects with 276 brands in 27 different industries in 2008. As a founding member of the Global Mobile Marketing Association, Turkcell assumed active roles on the Association's Board and its committees. Turkcell organized various public relations activities such as conferences and workshops that target advertisers and media agencies, with the aim of increasing the marketing sector's awareness of mobile marketing.
About Turkcell
Turkcell is the leading GSM operator in Turkey with 36.3 million postpaid and prepaid customers as of September 30, 2008 operating in a three player market with a market share of approximately 56% as of June 30, 2008 (Source: The Telecommunications Authority). In addition to high-quality wireless telephone services, Turkcell currently offers General Packet Radio Service ("GPRS") countrywide and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution ("EDGE") in dense areas, which provide for both improved data and voice services. Turkcell provides roaming with 605 operators in 201 countries as of December 22, 2008. Serving a large subscriber base in Turkey with its high-quality wireless telephone network, Turkcell reported US$5.4 billion net revenues for the nine months as of September 30, 2008 and US$6.3 billion net revenues as of December 31, 2007 as per IFRS financial statements. Turkcell has interests in international GSM operations in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Northern Cyprus and Ukraine. Turkcell has been listed on the NYSE ("New York Stock Exchange") and the ISE ("Istanbul Stock Exchange") since July 2000 and is the only NYSE listed company in Turkey. 51.00% of Turkcell's share capital is held by Turkcell Holding, 0.05% by Cukurova Group, 13.07% by Sonera Holding, 2.32% by M.V. Group and 0.08% by others while the remaining 33.48% is free float.
