Mobile marketing business unit for mobile operators
Claro, Viva RD, Viva Bolivia, Telefónica, Tigo · 2017 — today
Turn mobile operators into marketing channels for brands.
- Segment subscribers
- Activate channels
- Run brand campaigns
The problem
Between 2017 and 2018, mobile operators faced a structural decline in their revenue model. Users stopped calling and texting and moved to WhatsApp. Data use kept growing, but plans got cheaper.
The operators had huge subscriber bases (from 800K to 40 million), deep intelligence on each user’s behavior (consumption habits, mobility patterns, where the device sleeps, whether they pay by card or prepaid) and direct channels (SMS, notifications, calls, email, WhatsApp, RCS). But they did not know how to monetize them.
What we built
We designed and implemented a business unit specialized in mobile marketing inside the operators, turning each operator into a data-driven marketing platform for third-party brands. The unit activated two of the operator’s assets: subscriber intelligence (behavior, mobility, consumption) and its direct channels (SMS, notifications, email, WhatsApp, RCS).
We implemented it with Claro, where it evolved into what is now Claro Media, and with Viva Bolivia, along with collaborations with Telefónica and Tigo. The unit became known as 3Mobile.
One example: with Coca-Cola we ran mass promotions where users texted the code under the bottle cap and instantly received digital rewards (mobile data, airtime top-ups). That is where the Data Rewards product was born.
The result
New business units created inside at least 4 operators in 3+ countries, with new revenue streams for operators that were losing billing.
Today the operators run these units in-house, but we built them from scratch.
Why it’s innovation
We did not invent a product, we invented a business: a new revenue unit inside operators that were losing billing.
We had an advantage nobody else had: we understood marketing and advertisers’ needs, and also the operators’ internal technical capabilities. Multi-country, multi-operator, a lasting legacy.
