Blyk raids Virgin for sales chief to boost subscribers

by Andrew McCormick Media Week 29-Jan-08

Blyk, the ad-funded mobile network, has poached Virgin Mobile's Dean Merrion as its director of member sales and marketing.

Merrion was previously head of direct sales, online and marketing at
Virgin Mobile and his main task at Blyk will be to increase the number
of subscribers to the service.

Blyk, whose UK chief executive is ex-Telegraph director of new media

Shaun Gregory, launched in September 2007 and has set a goal of 100,000

subscribers within 12 months of launch.

Blyk is a mobile company that is free to use and aimed at 16 to
24-year-olds. It makes money through advertising, offering young people
free calls and other mobile services should they opt in to receive
ads.

Gregory said that Blyk is on course to hit its target and that the
detailed profiling of its users is helping to attract partners.

"We've not only got information about people's interests, but also their
behaviour and this will build over time as they are having an ongoing
conversation and building up a more valuable profile," he said.

Gregory said that Blyk is on "a real talent drive" due to demand in the
market.

He is putting in place specialists in digital and communications, in
order to get subscribers on board, as well as building a sales team.

Virgin Mobile and Blyk are similar in that they are both mobile virtual
network operators (MVNOs). This is where operators such as O2 and
Vodafone sell minutes of usage to MVNOs, who then take their customer
proposition to market.