mobiOs to launch MMM platform in Sri Lanka

Monday, 2 March 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ruwan Kumara, Steve Ephraums, Ravi Abeysekera and Jude Tissera “Traditional media is fast losing its value and becoming less effective with the fast changing lifestyles and consumer patterns which are evolving on a daily basis. With less and less time being devoted to traditional media across the globe, the transfer to mobile media which is delivered on multiple screens at real time is the need of the hour,” said mobiOs CEO Jude Tissera. Interactive Mobile Media Marketing [MMM] platform on SMS, IVR, missed call and smart phone apps, results in instant customer engagement with measurable results. Having identified this opportunity mobiOs has launched a platform which has been developed, based on voice, text and Smart Phone Apps integration, availing marketers the opportunity to reach consumers through interactive campaigns to mobile users, thus generating instant and measurable results. Tissera stressed the fact that mobiOs is geared to handle any product or service that requires promotions or direct interactions with mobile consumers through its Mobile Media Marketing platform. “This has been amply proved when you consider the progress of Facebook that has one billion and more customers spiking from the introduction of mobile applications. This also further proves that offline marketing is far less effective when compared with that of online and interactive, with the most powerful medium being the mobile phone.” Explaining the workings of MMM, Tissera said that all a customer had to do was give a missed call or SMS to receive promo offers and interact via IVR menus for follow up action, or even be directed to a sales agent, or receive a discount coupon via SMS that could be validated at the point of sale. “Customer feedback could be facilitated where all one has to do is give their preference with the click of their phone or SMS their choice to facilitate market surveys; a boon to marketers and research agencies.” Tissera went on to say that users could dial out their customer base and personalise updates saving the cost of operating a call center, while it was also ideal for taxi services and other related engagements. Instant top ups could also be awarded to customers based on predefined promotional reward schemes. Amongst the many advantages of MMM are the fact that customers are not spammed, coupled with toll free dialing or SMS – the platform does the rest. The dynamic team behind this novel venture is Ravi Abeysekera, Ruwan Kumara, Steve Ephraums and Jude Tissera, all of whom are no strangers to the industry. Ravi Abeysekera who has over 10 years experience at Dialog was in charge of Value Added Services and Corporate Strategy for the company. Since leaving Dialog, Abeysekera worked as a consultant for KNET, Ghana, facilitating a mCommerce strategy. He also worked for mChek India Payments Ltd., as Director Program Management and moved to Bangladesh to deploy mChek Systems. At present he is developing mobile banking and mobile financial inclusions in Myanmar for a joint venture between Myanmar Citizen Bank and Myanmar Payment Solution Services (MPSS). Ruwan Kumara an accomplished specialist has over 10 years of experience in technology driven working environments in the telecommunications sector with Dilaog Sri Lanka. As Manager Research and Development, he was instrumental in launching many Mobile Value Added Services and Platforms such as SMSC, Wap Gateway, Location Based Services and Contact Centre platforms. He was directly responsible for implementing new IVVR (3G)/IVR services, establishing new technological strategies to align the new software development with the company’s overall business strategy. Part of the technical consultant team for the Dialog Telecom Group, he played a key role in the GSM award-winning projects. Since leaving Dialog Ruwan has headed the implementation operations of Contact Centre and IVR call management services for SMG Infocom – Bangladesh, implementation of Mobile Marketing Platforms and IVR Call Management Systems for Etisalat – Sri Lanka, and IVR based Services and the Contact Centre for Astrology Services for Mobitel – Sri Lanka. Steve Ephraums is an entrepreneur who applied his expertise and experience in mobile technology and value-added services gained during a tenure of over seven years at Dialog, to start up Simato VAS Solutions Ltd. in 2008. Steve joined Dialog in the Research and Development team and advanced in the organization to manage key content operations from partner acquisitions to platform management. Steve proceeded to build a very successful mobile solutions and content aggregation business with both local and international clientele and has deployed his services with all the mobile operators in Sri Lanka.” Tissera, an industry veteran, has had exposure to the media industry in his capacity as Director at both ABC networks and MTV Channels. He was a senior member of the Dialog team, which launched many products on the Dialog broadband platform. Tissera has also had exposure to the IT industry during his stint with Ezy Infotech where he served as the COO. Having the winning combination of Mobile experience coupled with Media experience, backed by qualifications in Marketing, a MBA and currently reading for a DBA from the institute of AIT, mobiOs definitely has a winning team. Companies who have already availed themselves of mobiOs’ services include Unilever, Singha FM, Biona and Etisalat. Amongst mobiOs’ most successful campaigns were the Unilever Laogee Chogam campaign that had 1.8 million missed calls for three days from 14 to 16 November and Unilever’s Vaseline sample promotion where 1.2 million missed calls were received between 5 and 22 December 2014.