80,000 opt in to Goodyz mobile advertising in 2010

Goodyz, the cutting-edge smartphone application from Huge Media, has recorded over 80,000 downloads since its commercial launch in 2010, more than half of which are from South Africa.

Huge Media marketing manager Justin Lavers comments, “We are certainly satisfied with our performance in year one. The numbers are good, and more importantly, the qualitative aspects are excellent – in other words, the feedback from our users has been overwhelmingly positive towards the Goodyz product, and the experience it delivers”.

Goodyz is a smartphone application that works on the Symbian (Nokia, Samsung and LG) and Blackberry operating systems to “intercept” incoming and outgoing calls and messages, and display funky and engaging content and ads to users during these times.

Lavers explains, “Goodyz’ proposition to our users is a simple one of ‘ad-funded content’. Out of every three phone interactions, two contain targeted and relevant advertising, and the third contains a free content item for the user. These content items include wallpapers, ringtones, games and music tracks. Our Goodyz users, who have often previously been stung by exorbitant charges for cellphone content by unscrupulous WASPs, are ecstatic about – and sometimes can hardly believe – the value proposition and free content that Goodyz delivers to them.”

The Goodyz application is user-installed, and so is completely voluntary and opt-in – therefore advertisers are guaranteed not to fall foul of new consumer protection legislation. With consumer protection initiatives tightening up, and public sentiment turning increasingly against “spam” SMS advertisements, advertisers are soon going to have to find true opted-in advertising channels, or face dire consequences, Lavers says.

Lavers elaborates, “With Goodyz, advertisers get a full-screen, full-featured, opted-in, rich media advertisement that offers multiple different forms of user engagement, such as click to call, click to site, downloads, voting and more. The closest comparison is the ubiquitous SMS advertisement, however in practice there really is no comparison at all – particularly as a Goodyz ad impression costs less than the price of a bulk SMS!”

On Goodyz’ prospects for 2011, Lavers is upbeat: “We have completed all the groundwork required to start-up a business, and all indications are that mobile advertising is fast coming of age now. We are working on some great partnership prospects, and the future is certainly looking very promising.”