Gigafone debuts RingMate in Southeast Asia

Macau - Mobile marketing solutions company Gigafone has formed a marketing partnership with Zingmobile Group to offer sponsored mobile content free to its subscribers.

Zingmobile subscribers will be able to personalise their mobiles with full-screen interactive content activated by incoming calls and messages.

When the call has ended, the message remains on screen and subscribers could either click through to the mobile web and enter competitions or call the operators directly.

Jesse Liu (pictured), managing director for Gigafone Asia Pacific, said the RingMate solution will provide a new ad revenue stream to Zingmobile.

"RingMate is an ideal solution for aggressive mobile content providers. With RingMate, Zingmobile subscribers can create visuals to complement their ringtones, extending phone customisation into visuals," he said.

"We looked to work with a subscriber base that was already engaged in customizing their mobile experience, and use our platform to extend their choices. The model also helps our Zingmobile partners leverage their subscriber base to create an advertising revenue stream that would not otherwise be open to them."

Teo Siewkiet CEO for Zingmobile said, "When we saw the RingMate proposition we knew we had found the right solution for extending our brand reach, delivering a unique new opportunity to our customers."

Teo added that the ad-funded model also helped them diversify their revenue stream.

"That RingMate leverages the natural interaction of answering a call or message means every time a Zingmobile subscriber receives a call or sms they will enjoy the benefits of our offering while we have the ability to target advertising to opt-in consumers," he said.

The RingMate mobile marketing platform is also extended to Thailand's largest mobile operator, Advanced Info Services and will be supported by Sony BMG.

The program will be called Calling Bonus and Sony BMG will provide images and movie clips to opt-in AIS subscribers.