Blyk, the new mobile network for 16-24 year olds funded by advertising, gives members free texts and minutes every month which equates to an individual saving of over £280 each year – with no contract, no hidden costs or fees – in return for receiving up to six highly targeted advertising messages per day from brands including Xbox, Adidas, STA Travel, Penguin, Brylcreem, Boots, COI and RSPCA.

The service has signed up over 100,000 members since its launch in the UK at the end of September, 2007. According to Shaun Gregory, UK CEO, young people have embraced Blyk because it makes phone bills and contracts a thing of the past. “We believe that communication should be free, like most other forms of media in the UK.”

This service does not annoy its users with “ads spam” at all, so that they’d love to use it. They just receive information about the brands they like. For advertisers, Blyk is a new media channel and direct access to the young user market.

Blyk was co-founded in 2006 by Pekka Ala-Pietilä and Antti Öhrling and has offices in Helsinki, Finland and London, UK.  Blyk is now operating in the UK, with other European markets to follow.

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