SA winner at inaugural SMS innovation awards

Bidorbuy was recognised for the creation of a programme that notifies bidders via text message when they are outbid. Its ability to reach consumers on the go on the device that is becoming increasingly popular makes it a compelling case study.

Clickatell, one of the global communications leaders in mobile communications specialising in SMS messaging as a service, hosts the PPM Awards to recognise businesses that are driving mobile innovation.

The judges chose the winners for their innovative use of mobile messaging to build close customer connections, develop effective internal communications and improve global safety and security.

"A highly effective method of communication"

Drawn from a range of sectors from emergency services to retail, the award-winners' mobile message communications exhibited leading characteristics of successful PPM campaign: making valuable use of the ubiquity and push-messaging capability of the SMS protocol to deliver value for the message sender and the receiver through message simplicity, contextual relevance and time-sensitivity.

"With a higher response rate than any other media type, SMS can be a highly effective method of communication to develop personal relationships with any business stakeholders - and the PPM awards prove that the days of traditional bulk mobile messaging are truly long gone," said Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell. "We created the awards to highlight innovative ways companies are leveraging PPM to reach and influence their audience more effectively than with any other media type."

Winners

• Public Priority - Universal Alert, used by NASA and the US Military to connect people during an emergency, received the public vote for its use of PPM. This award winner, headquartered in New Jersey, tapped the organisation's mobile messaging gateway to simplify mobile group communications. "PPM are the most effective means to reach people during an emergency and potentially save lives, as they are received at a far higher rate than any other communication type." said Seth Danberry, CEO of Universal Alert.
  
• Enterprise - Bidorbuy South Africa
  
• Application Developers - the winner was Databuzz, a software consultancy company from Australia, for its companion service, fmSMS that allows users to send relevant SMS messages to a database of contacts on FileMaker.
  
• Small and Medium Business Category - QLess from Los Angeles CA, aims to use PPM to eliminate the experience of waiting in line. "When used effectively, SMS can provide businesses with a powerful way to get the message out and improve the customer experience," said Alex Backer, Founder and CEO of QLess. "With SMS, we were able to provide personalised convenience and huge time savings to our customers by helping them avoid dreaded lines and long waits. We are honoured to be recognized by the PPM Awards for our work."

For more, go to www.clickatell.com/ppmawards.