Neo One Impulse text-to-screen system short listed in the Global SMS Messaging Awards

2004-05-05 05:24:39

Neo One is delighted to announce its Impulse service has been short listed as a candidate in the upcoming Global Messaging Congress Mobile Messaging Awards.

Impulse, Earth's #1 interactive venue entertainment system, is an interactive platform for nightclubs and venues. The platform enables club goers to instantly interact with each other, the DJ and staff by sending text messages from their mobile phones to screens in the club. Clubbers use Impulse to chat, flirt, vote, send MMS messages to the screen and take part in the in-venue interactive activities. The interactive experience is exciting and addictive but the real power of Impulse extends beyond the in-venue environment. As well as being an SMS-to-Screen platform, Impulse is a customer management tool which provides nightclubs and venues with the data they need to build relationships with their valuable customers.

Commenting on the announcement, Neo One Managing Director Hetty Browne said, "We are absolutely delighted that Impulse made the shortlist. The team and I are very much looking forward to the awards. Regardless of the actual result we're really pleased that these type of innovative mobile applications are to get industry-wide recognition."

Further information
Impulse provides compelling entertainment for the venue audience through-out the night as they interact with each other, the DJ and the venue management by sending text messages from their mobile phones to the giant screens. Typically clubbers use Impulse to request songs from the DJ (which has replaced the archaic “scribbling on a piece of paper” method), request birthday shout-outs, chat and flirt with their friends or other people in the club. The voting feature enables venues to effortlessly run competitions such as “vote for the sexiest girl” or “vote for the best DJ”.

Every single message is read by one of our exceptionally well trained content control moderators. This ensures that no negative or potentially actionable content goes to screen (e.g. messages such as “all drinks are free”).

Any messages that refer to dedications or DJ requests are sent to screen but also allocated into a different area of the system by the moderator. The Impulse DJ console then lists all recent song requests and dedications on a screen in the DJ box, ready for use by the venue staff at the appropriate time.
The system is very simple to use. Simply send a text message to the venue’s dedicated phone number and within seconds, the message will be displayed (content rules allowing). There’s no need to be concerned about registering nicknames or the like, the system automatically applies a default nickname to each unique phone number which can be changed on-demand.

Once someone has used the system their mobile number is stored in the nightclubs database so that they may be contacted in the future. Impulse is fully compliant with the data protection act. Users can opt out of receiving any further messages by simply sending “stop” to the nightclub’s SMS number.
For the first time nightclub management has the ability to communicate directly with their existing customers and engage them two-way interaction.

For example, the management will send out regular updates to their database about upcoming events. The customer has the ability to hit reply on their phone and pose a question to the nightclub manager. For example “what time do you open tonight?” or “Could I book the VIP room next week for my birthday?”
The immediate and personal nature of the SMS medium is perfectly suited to connecting clubbers with the venue staff. Incoming messages from clubbers are routinely responded to within the hour. Clubbers respond exceptionally well to communication from the venue management and as a result there are ample opportunities for upselling.

When a nightclub opens its doors on a given evening there are no guarantees that anyone will choose to visit. The nightclub industry in notoriously susceptible to fashion. A popular club one week can be left deserted the next. The antidote to fashion are relationships with the clubbers. Special treatment, discount incentives and good service all contributes toward ensuring that a nightclub continues to attract repeat visitors. By enabling the nightclub management to connect via the medium of SMS with its customers Impulse helps improve the bottom line. By far the most beneficial feature of Impulse is the ability to easily communicate with customers. For example the under 18s nights at Time and Envy in Romford are exceptionally popular. They are held on random Tuesdays every month. Prior to the installation of the Impulse service the nightclub management had a very difficult task communicating with their target audience.

Similarly the regular customers for these nights found it challenging to find out when the under 18s night was due to take place. Local radio advertising, flyering and banners displayed outside the nightclub were simply in effective compared to being able to communicate directly with the target audience. With the Impulse system under 18s night customers now have perfect information which has led in turn to vastly increased ticket sales and revenues. You can hear the venue management discussing the benefits of Impulse on our video.

It is time that companies and mobile marketing agencies in particular recognised that one-way broadcasts using the SMS medium are outdated and do not allow the true power of the medium to present itself. A complete change of mindset is required to move away from the 19th century broadcast, one-way communications model that is synonymous with marketing and advertising. As the application of the Impulse service to the nightclub industry shows, listening to customers not only results in happy customers with fulfilled expectations, it boosts income. Impulse should win to highlight the myriad of industries and markets (both traditional and non-traditional) that could be better served through the application of smart and responsive CRM services via mobile. (CRM in the nightclub industry was limited to a plastic membership card and some money off vouchers on your birthday!)

The Global Messaging Awards are part of the Global Messaging Congress to be held on11th-12th May at Olympia, London, UK. (For more information, please visit: http://www.globalmessagingcongress.com/awards.

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