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Imagine walking down the street and getting a text message offering you a coupon at the restaurant around the corner. Have you stumbled into some alternate galaxy where stores and restaurants – not just the government – use your cell phone to track your every movement? No, it’s just the future of digital marketing, and its being led by mobile media marketing company Outspoken.
Outspoken is a merger of two LA-based companies – Mogreet and Payvia – and is leading the mobile messaging industry. Though it may be new, its reach is already prolific.
“Last month we delivered text picture and video message from brands to 41 million American cell phones," said president James Citron. "That means one out of seven people in America who have a cell phone received a text from our platform.”
Wondering if you are one of those 41 million cell phones? Citron says their platform sends out not only advertisements and coupons but bank alerts and notifications about delayed flights.
The idea for mobile marketing came to Citron back in 2004 in a Hong Kong metro station. It was Chinese New Year – the country’s biggest holiday – and Citron was surprised to see people texting instead of flooding the cars for their evening commute home. He later learned that millions of people had sent each other holiday greetings via messaging. A year later in Europe, he saw the same phenomenon: massive amounts of texting.
But texting was still in its infancy in America. Citron saw an opportunity to build texting and multimedia messages that built on technologies already in your phone – no app needed. By 2013, the company had “grown pretty significantly,” but they lacked a carrier infrastructure. Enter, Payvia and help from the private equity firm Silver Lake. After the companies came together in the second quarter of last year, they doubled revenue and gross profit. Two weeks ago, Mogreet and Payvia merged to form the “first vertically integrated mobile marketing company out there,” said Citron.
Demand for their product is strong with Citron expecting growth “north of 100 percent” this year. Brands need a way to cut through the clutter and reach their targets. According to Citron, 90 percent of emails from brands never get opened, 70 to 80 percent of company tweets aren’t seen but 98 percent of texts messages from brands (which use an opt-in program) are opened: “If you are a marketer, there’s nothing more important than getting your message through,” said Citron.
Despite the relative newness of the product – two years ago brands were barely using the technology – it’s catching on quickly. Before, any money spent on this type of marketing was from an experimental budget. Now brands have dedicated and growing budgets for text and multimedia messaging.
Outspoken is focused on two key areas: growing internationally and using location-based targeting. The first goal is straightforward. The company is looking to expand to 10 to 30 different countries, with a focus on Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, Mexico and Brazil. Despite their global ambitions, Citron seems happy to call LA his home base. He sees an explosion in alternative capital and more local funders and Silicon-based investors traveling to LA.
“You are seeing some of the best and fastest-growing companies starting and originating here,” said Citron.
The second goal is to grow their location-based targeting. Outspoken works with mobile carriers and brands; when clients (who opts-in to a text messaging service from a brand) gets within a defined zone, Outspoken will send them a message. It could be a coupon for a retailer or restaurant or a message encouraging you to shop at a particular store.
When asked if this technology was an outgrowth of some sort of NSA conspiracy, Citron sounded amused but answered seriously: “‘It’s a very black and white line about how to do it in a non-creepy fashion.” He added, “Every single retailer in America is excited about this functionality.” Early adopters of this technology are quick-service restaurants, but there is room to expand to many other verticals. And considering the immense reach of LA-based players in the mobile messaging space like Snapchat, Tinder and TigerText, it is clear Outspoken has tapped into a market offering unlimited room for expansion.
