Startup Clk2C.com Makes Mobile Video Advertising Personalized and Innovative
Mobile is slowly but surely becoming the “go to” medium for most marketing and branding activities. Advancement in mobile technology has made it possible for users to access multimedia content and browse the internet even on a sub-Rs. 5000 phone.
According to the latest report from Analysys Mason the number of mobile connections in India is expected to increase from 812 million (end 2011) to 1.36 billion (in 2020). We carry our mobile phone (or mobile devices) wherever we go. So, for a brand it is the most accessible medium to communicate with their target market. Ghaziabad based startup, Clk2C.com, is making the most of this opportunity.
For a startup like Clk2C.com this opens up great opportunities. Clk2C.com is a mobile video advertising platform. “The main USP of a medium like Clk2C.com is the fact that it is a ‘Me & You’ kind of medium”, says Suresh Kabra, Founder, Samadhan Systems, which is the parent company.
Unlike television or outdoor advertising mediums, a mobile video advertising medium is more personal and interactive. It allows brands to engage with their target customers in a more personalized manner. Samadhan Systems, which was founded in 2007, first entered the mobile video content sector in 2009 through mobile video greetings. The response to it was very encouraging and that led to the birth of Clk2C.com in April 2010.
Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics was one of the first brands to like this innovative medium and approached Clk2C.com to create a viral mobile commercial. In the past year and a half they have worked with some of the biggest brands (across industry) in the Indian market, including Mercedes-Benz, Domino’s Pizza, Punjab National Bank, etc. One of the major projects Clk2C.com is working on currently is BJP’s mobile video campaign for the UP elections. They have also done major mobile video campaigns for HDFC (a pan-India lead generation campaign) and GNIIT (campaign to promote their cloud program).
Clk2C.com is quite a flexible medium. It is not necessary to deliver only video content; it could also be a presentation or something else. “As any other new media format or medium we faced certain challenges pertaining to acceptance”, says Suresh. According to him it was particularly acute for Clk2C.com as brand managers and marketing professionals took some time to get accustomed to the possibilities of a mobile video advertising campaign.
Samadhan Systems was completely bootstrapped. They are currently in discussion with a few VC’s and hope to complete a deal within 2012. The customer base for Clk2C.com is steadily increasing and a number of innovative campaigns are in the pipeline. Their video greeting site ifeelclub.com has also been recording 100% month-on-month increase in downloads. The beginning of 2012 has seen a 400% increase in revenue over the same period last year.
Speaking about Clk2C.com’s plan for the next 12 months Suresh said, “We plan to work closely with major advertising agencies and integrate mobile video advertising with the brands entire campaign.” Exploring new verticals in terms of industry is another goal. They also want to aggressively market their mobile video invitation services, which has already attracted some traction. “This year we want to increase the number of active customers to one lakh per month”, adds Suresh.
Last year for Valentine’s Day MAAC had sponsored the greetings and it was downloaded across 73 cities in India. Similar plans are in place for this year and they are in talks with some companies for possible sponsorship. “Mobile video advertising and mobile greetings are at one level connected to each other. So, a Haldiram’s can utilize mobile video greetings to send out Diwali greetings to its customers and use mobile video advertising to engage with them”, Suresh points out.
