2008 Ypulse National Mashup

Ypulse Interview: Antti Öhrling, Co-Founder, Blyk

Posted by anastasia

The 2008 Ypulse Mashup in San Francisco is just a few months away (only a couple of weeks before the "early adopter" deadline) so I wanted to give readers another sneak preview by interviewing one of our keynote speakers, Antti Öhrling, the co-founder of Blyk. Blyk is the first free ad supported mobile service for 16-24 year-olds in the world, but I'll let Antti tell you more...

Ypulse: What inspired the concept for Blyk, i.e. "free" ad supported mobile for youth?

Antti Öhrling: I became active in mobile marketing back in 1999 (when many ad execs were just starting to take the internet more seriously) and my advertising agency was a founding member of the Wireless Advertising Association in the US. Some years later I was sitting in a conference where mobile marketing was being discussed and having been involved in mobile in its infancy I started contemplating, "Why is this industry not moving...and what would it take to move the media forward?" My conclusion -- you must create a service that people will want, and you must give advertisers a simple and effective way to access to these people. Ultimately, to attract users to a service you have to give them something good in return, and the people to provide this good stuff, it seemed natural, should be the advertisers. The ideal solution then would be one that made this transaction as simple as possible: advertiser gives value to user. Other media already did this, TV channels, even some newspapers. Why couldn't mobile do the same thing? "It needed a completely new kind of mobile operator, one that had the ethos of a media.'' I knew the media and advertising element. To make this groundbreaking new idea into reality, it also needed someone who knew networks and the entire mobile industry.

It was at this point that I approached Pekka Ala-Pietilä, a lifetime friend and the former President of the Nokia Corporation and together we came to the conclusion that we'd have to build a completely new service from the ground up -- one where advertisers gave users value directly -- in other words, a complete mobile operator that was funded by advertising.

In January 2006, we gathered a group of experts in Helsinki from the worlds of mobile technology, design, media strategy, advertising, corporate consultancy and finance, and they were briefed to kill the idea. The only problem was that they could not find a reason why it wouldn't work. In fact, they got pretty excited about it. They all agreed that, with the massive proliferation of mobile devices, the potential market was right there.

It was at this point that the seed of an idea took roots and the concept of Blyk was born (the name popped up somewhere between a smoke sauna in Helsinki and a dip in the ocean...)

YP: What has the feedback been like so far from users? What do they LOVE? What have they been critical of? What do they want?

AO: They absolutely love the Blyk concept. They're telling us that free is good and ads are good. The more they can interact with the ads the more they prefer them. After all, mobile is a communication channel by its nature.

What have they been critical of...well actually, they want more communications from brands (ads). Non-targeted ads with no response opportunity (as in traditional media advertising) score the lowest. Overall I'd say that's a lot more of a positive for us vs. a criticism.

YP: What can U.S. mobile carriers learn from what you're doing?

AO: Going after mobile advertising and young people requires sole focus on the topic. There is no half-way house. It is a wrong assumption to think that mobile is an extension of internet. That model does not work in such a private environment as mobile. Mobile is all about relevance and engagement not frequency and reach.

YP: Is there an ad campaign that has been particularly successful so far? Which one and why?

AO: There have been over 600 campaigns on Blyk to date and while the average response rate to advertising campaigns is 29%, many are significantly higher.

Penguin Books for example ran a campaign on Blyk to promote the launch of Nick Hornby's latest novel "Slam" and achieved an unprecedented 67% response rate. Blyk created a two-part messaging dialogue whereby positive respondents received a 90 second audio preview of the opening chapter read by Nicholas Hoult, the star of "Skins" the most highly rate youth oriented TV program in the UK. This was a media first for using audio clips sent via mobile to promote a book.

YP: What can Ypulse Mashup attendees expect to learn from your keynote in July?

AO: I will share mind-boggling insights and statistics behind our success in response rates, relevance and interaction. World of mobile is all about communication, openness and listening. And we are continuously improving our services by listening our members. I will to give some answers to how can we get 29% response rates and comments as below (just after we reached 100,000 UK members in April) in the world of commoditized wireless industry.

From a blogger: "My final point to leave you with is basically I am LOVING BLYK! Ok there are elements that annoy me but BLYK is exciting, you are thinking how can a mobile network be exciting? and in all honesty I have no idea but I will leave you with this how many people do you know tell you they LOVE their network? Not many I'd bet, so surely BLYK is doing something right and I would think the other 99,999 members of this service would agree with me!"

Ok, now go register!

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10 Reasons You Shouldn't Miss The 2008 Ypulse Mashup

Posted by anastasia

I feel like Letterman doing this, but oh well:

1. The keynotes: MTV's Ian Rowe on how they are rocking the vote 2.0 style, Antti Ohrling, Co-Founder of Blyk, the first free mobile service in the world for youth 16-24, award-winning director Michael Franzini presenting photos and video of over "100 Young Americans" and Damon Whiteside, SVP of marketing at Walt Disney Records (just confirmed!)

2. The conversations: I'll be interviewing the creators of the popular and hilarious Midwest Teen Sex Show about using humor to reach teens while Mortified founder Dave Nadelberg will be interviewing a special guest (tba) about how teens have changed and what essentially remains the same throughout time (mortifying angst!)

3. The panels: So many good ones: Girls are the new geeks, Totally wired hip hop, How teen sites can prevent cyberbullying, Totally wired teen superstars, mobile, social networking, widgets and apps, user generated content....see the full agenda for panels and panelists here. (um, MC Hammer, founder of DanceJam.com, is a panelist!)

4. The attendees: Last year we had over 350 on site -- people kept telling me how impressed they were...with each other! Ypulse readers are a special breed - smart, passionate about youth and very connected. I continue to hear about friendships formed and business partnerships forged.

5. Lunch: I'm not talking chow, but our "user generated" lunchtime roundtables suggested and moderated by our attendees. We make our lunch long enough for you all to eat and talk shop.

6. The pre-conferences: We have four to choose from this year, all completely unique -- Casual Gaming For Youth, Ypulse Books/Publishing, Deep Dive: Understanding Tweens & Teens, and Building a Youth Movement.

7. Exclusive screening: "American Teen" followed by a panel featuring three of the teens from the film. Check out their Facebook page here.

8. Case studies: You'll hear best practices throughout panels and from our sponsors: Fuse, Alcatel Lucent, Premise, Mr. Youth and MyYearbook. There are only two sponsored case study slots left! Email us for more info...

9. Research: Our research sponsor C&R Research will be sharing their latest findings from their TeensEyes panel of teens and tweens.

10. Price: Compared to other youth marketing conferences, Ypulse is a steal. If you register before our early adopter deadline May 30, it's even cheaper. And we are one of the only marketing conferences offering an affordable non-profit rate. Don't wait -- register now and I'll see you in July!

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Ypulse Interview: Nikol Hasler & Guy Clark, 'The Midwest Teen Sex Show'

Posted by anastasia

Longtime Ypulse readers know I am a big advocate of comprehensive sex education...and using humor to reach teens. The Midwest Teen Sex Show does both extremely well. I had the pleasure of meeting Nikol Hasler at a conference we were both speaking at in San Francisco and learned that she, too, shares my passion for karaoke. I knew I had to have them at the Ypulse 2008 National Mashup this July and lucky for me and our attendees, she and her producing partner Guy Clark have said yes. I'll be interviewing them on stage, but I wanted to give Ypulse readers a hint of what you'll see and yet another reason (as if you need one, to register today!).

Ypulse: What inspired you to create the Midwest Teen Sex Show?

Guy Clark: My favorite podcasts are educational and having grown up in the Midwest, I knew that sex education was lacking a voice that connected with teens. On the practical side: As a struggling filmmaker, I was keeping a close eye on the world of web video as a potential venue for my work. When podcasting hit, I saw an opportunity to create an ongoing show that would drive a consistent audience.

Mixing humor, sex, and a bit of real world information was exactly the kind of show I wanted to see online, and fortunately Nikol, Britney, and our viewers agreed.

YP: What is the most asked question you get from your viewer email?

Nikol Hasler: Our most frequently asked question in emails is "Am I normal?" It is a resounding theme. The ideas surrounding vary from body image, fantasies, desire or lack of desire for sex, all the way to fear of talking to their parents. The important thing to note is that all of them seem to be looking less for someone to tell them the answer, and more for someone to let them know there is someone they can tell this stuff to who isn't going to judge.

YP: What reaction to the Midwest Teen Sex Show surprised you the most?

NH: Some people have noted a rash.

GC: The massive popularity of the show came as an initial shock. It's surprising just how much teens and adults alike were craving for sex information that was handled in a more honest and entertaining way than what was out there already.

YP: What has been your biggest challenge in creating the videos/website so far?

GC: Time and zero funding. The show was started in a basement with a light from Ikea. While we're getting numbers and demographics that would make any marketer jealous, we're still working on securing advertisers/funders to help us produce the show on a more full-time basis.

YP: What can Ypulse Mashup attendees expect to hear (and see) in July? Give us a sneak preview...

NH: I can tell you what they won't be seeing! I don't twirl baton very well, so there will be none of that. I will work on my cartwheels so I can possibly do a few of those if things get tense.

GC: What we will be sharing with them is two fold. We want to express the ease of putting your ideas into a working format that is relevant and useful in talking to teens. Very often parents and educators will have a longer discussion with their peers about how to reach their Todd and Judy than they spend actually talking to the kids about the important ideas they need to express.

We also hope to speak about the importance of creating high end materials. Teens can tell just as easily as anyone if something feels slapped together. If the message is important, it is worth putting time into.

About Guy & Nikol:

Director Guy Clark (aka Todd) is the creator of Midwest Teen Sex Show. In an effort to showcase his filmmaking talents and provide a fresh take on teen sexuality, Guy began shooting MTSS with high school friend Nikol Hasler. Since its debut, MTSS has received millions of views and has been featured in national press. When he's not busy editing episodes or duct taping Britney's nipples, Guy produces new media content for online and broadcast venues. His commercial work and consulting services can be found at H-PEP.com. He also loves cheese.

Nikol Hasler is an expert of absolutely nothing with an opinion on just about everything. In the summer of 2007 she began writing for and hosting the video podcast Midwest Teen Sex Show. As a working mother of three, there is no such thing as free time. If she did, she would use that time to paint, write, and cook. Much of her professional focus is in encouraging people to talk about their own ideas concerning sex. She is grateful to have this opportunity to combine her warped sense of humor with her frank perspective on her own life experiences.

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Ypulse 2008 National Mashup Keynote: Michael Franzini

Posted by anastasia

Ypulse 2008 National Mashup keynote Michael Franzini is an Emmy Award-winning director/photographer who has worked in the TV and advertising industries. Most recently, he photographed high school dropouts for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His book, 100 Young Americans, features Michael's photographs of teenagers and musings on youth culture. It looks like a gorgeous coffee table book that doubles as a guide for understanding today's teens. Michael will be presenting a multimedia keynote with his photography, video and insights from his work on 100 Young Americans on July 14th. You don't want to miss it. We ran the following interview with Michael on Ypulse a few months back.

Ypulse: What process and/or criteria did you use to choose your 100 subjects?

Michael Franzini: This was the hardest part of the project. We really wanted this group to be a true cross section of American teenagers. In the end, I think we did a pretty good job of capturing the full spectrum of young Americans--as much as a group of 100 individuals can, at least.

We started with census data for gender, race and religion and matched these proportions. Then we mapped out about 50 'niches' in youth culture--ranging from the most mainstream (e.g. football jocks and student body presidents) to the most fringe (e.g. goths and vampires). We made sure to represent each niche. Finally, we balanced city vs suburban vs rural/country kids. And, of course, we made sure to represent all 50 states.

This was a mammoth undertaking. It required an office full of people (averaging about 8 working at one time) for half a year. They went on MySpace, Facebook and Craigslist -- often recruiting people "on the ground" in areas around the country to go out and find candidates. In the end, we looked at about 3,000 teens to get these 100.

YP: What surprised you most about teen life today during your travels and interviews?

MF: In some ways, teenagers today are surprisingly similar to those of 20 years ago (when I was that age). There are still goths just like there were then -- and stoners and skaters and geeks. But, in some ways, life is radically different. To say life has changed from one generation to the next is not exactly a major newsflash.

But things have changed a lot. I believe there is more of a generation gap now than ever before. And I believe it's all about technology. When my parents were kids, their parents told them that radio was going to corrupt them. When I was a kid, they said Pac Man was going to rot my brain. People always seem to think that technology will be the end of life as we know it, and it always seems to be a gross exaggeration.

But, for this generation, the change is more profound. This is the first generation to have grown up entirely within the technological revolution of the past 20 years. I call them the Instant Access Generation. They have access to information and people on an unprecedented scale. Some of the implications are obvious: faster answers via Google and Wikipedia (instead of a 200-pound stack of books known as an "encyclopedia" -- a term many teenagers today don't know).

But Instant Access has implications that are less obvious. Here are a couple:

- Teens have easy access to a wide range of information, some of which is harmful. Parson, the 18-year old who "robo-trips" every day, is representative of the 10% of teens who use cough medicine recreationally. And teens are abusing prescription drugs more than ever, because it's easier than ever to find out what the pills in their parents' medicine cabinets can do for them.

- Obscure niches are no longer obscure. We have a guy in the book named Angel, who lives his life as a vampire, fangs and all. When I was a kid, if someone had a vampire phase, it would come and go. But now, budding vampires have Instant Access to a whole world of vampires out there. It's far easier to choose your identity and find a whole world of support for it.

YP: How do you think today's teens view themselves?

MF: This is one thing that remains unchanged. Ask almost any teenager what they think of their generation and they will be at a loss for words. It's hard to describe the forest when you're in the middle of it. This book is the view from 30,000 feet.

YP: Describe your favorite photograph in the book.

MF: There's a guy in the book with a skateboard wedged in his mouth, like he's trying to eat it. This represents a big part of what's appealing about teenagers. I asked the guy if he'd eat his skateboard and let me take a picture of it. He shrugged and did it. This is a time of life when boundaries are loose and anything goes. If I had to pick a single image to represent "teen spirit," this would be it.

YP: Who is the intended audience for this book and what do you hope they take away from it?

MF: Parents, teens, grandparents, teachers, marketers and everyone else. I hope they feel like they know this generation of Americans. And that they are able to draw their own conclusions.

You can purchase 100 Young Americans at Amazon.com.

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Ypulse 2008 National Mashup Agenda Sneak Peek

Posted by anastasia

We've been busy bees behind the scenes here at Ypulse working on our second annual Ypulse National Mashup happening July 14-15 here in San Francisco. On the sponsor front, in addition to our generous anchor sponsor Fuse, we have added C&R Research as our exclusive research sponsor as well as Premise, who will joining Alcatel Lucent's Worldwide Teen Lab as a sponsor. We have four sponsor case study/speaking slots available as well as exhibitor space and other options. Contact Phil for more information.

On the programming front, in addition to our confirmed keynotes (we'll be announcing one more soon):

Michael Franzini, Emmy-award winning director, photographer, and youth culture expert
Antti Öhrling, Co-Founder, Blyk
Ian Rowe, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships, MTV

We have finalized the following panel programming:

- What's Next in The Mobile Youth Space?
- Leveraging User Generated Content to Reach Youth
- Brand Engagement in Virtual Worlds for Youth
- Killer Apps: Which Widgets and Applications Are Hits With Younger Users?
- How to Successfully Reach Youth on Social Networks
- The Tween Multi-Platform Music Machine
- Are Girls The New Geeks?
- Totally Wired Hip Hop: Reaching Urban Youth
- Preventing Cyberbullying in Online Communities for Youth
- Meet the Totally Wired Superstars

And don't forget the pre-conferences:

Ypulse Books Publishing Mashup
Casual Gaming For Tweens & Teens
Understanding Wired Teens: An Interactive Workshop
Building A Youth Movement

We will post the full agenda for the main event next week (pre-conference sessions will follow). More to come...Register now!

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Quick 2008 Ypulse National Mashup Update

Posted by erim

If any of you are on our email list, we had a typo on the date of this year's conference -- it's not June, it's July 14th and 15th. You can check out the press release online here.

Also, after yesterday's post, Aria Finger, the dynamic CMO of Do Something, offered to host/moderate our new fourth pre-conference: "Building A Youth Movement." This will replace the "Case Study Slam." Alli Decker, our Ypulse Books editor, will host/moderate our "Ypulse Books Publishing Mashup" pre-conference. And, John Davison, of WhatTheyPlay, will host/moderate the "Casual Gaming For Tweens & Teens" pre-conference. If you have speaker suggestions for either of these four morning sessions, please send them to me.

I'm getting lots of speaker requests right now so please accept my apology in advance if I can't get back to everyone. We will be posting our full agenda next week and will post pre-conference agendas and additional speakers as we confirm them. Don't wait to register for this year's event -- it's going to be packed, and you don't want to miss the pricing discounts.

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The 2008 Ypulse National Mashup Keynotes

Posted by anastasia

We are in full on planning mode for our second annual 2008 Ypulse National Mashup July 14-15 in San Francisco this summer. Fuse has signed on as our anchor sponsor for this year and next year's event! Last year we had over 350 attendees on site and we hope to grow that number a lot this time around. In addition to the best in-person networking you will find at any "youth marketing" event as well as extremely affordable prices that include a realistic non-profit rate, you get:

- Four pre-conference options
- Four keynotes
- Two keynote interviews
- Five topical panels
- Four breakout practical panels (think: how they did it and how you can, too)
- Two main session sponsored case studies + four breakout sponsored case case studies

All focused on what's NEW in this space and what's NEXT.

Right now, our pre-conference sessions are:
- Ypulse Books publishing pre-conference
- Casual games for tweens and teens
- Interactive workshop on reaching teens (with teens!)
- Case Study Slam

Question: We actually have a lot of case studies in the main event so I'm considering replacing the Case Study Slam with a different pre-conference -- would potential Ypulse attendees from the social marketing/non-profit space be interested in a pre-conference on "Building a youth movement"? If so, is there a reader who would like to help organize, suggest speakers for this, chair/moderate? Please get in touch. If you really want even more case studies, you can tell me that, too. That session would consist of six 20-minute back-to-back case studies from a variety of brands.

I'm really excited to announce three of our four keynote speakers:

Michael Franzini, Emmy-award winning director, photographer, youth culture expert - Mike is the author of 100 Young Americans, and will be our opening keynote. His talk will include photographs and video (and most importantly, insight gained) from the 100 Young Americans project.

Antti Öhrling, co-founder, Blyk. Everyone's buzzing about the latest Wired cover story on "Free." Guess what? Blyk is doing this in the mobile space abroad with the first of its kind ad supported mobile network for 16-24 year olds.

Ian Rowe, SVP, Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships, MTV. It's "Choose or Lose" time for the country and for MTV. Ian will share how MTV is leveraging all kinds of technology in this year's election coverage as well as dispel some myths about young voters.

The ONLY sponsored speaking slots are the six case studies and they are already going fast (Alcatel Lucent's Worldwide Teen Lab has come on board and there are a bunch more in the works). All other speaking is editorially chosen by me. We have lots of exhibitor space, break sponsorships and more. Contact Phil if you're interested.

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