Originally released to market on 12th May 2004 - reposted in 29th January 2006 by Mobile Industry Review

A comprehensive SMS-to-screen entertainment service for nightclubs, developed by London-based Neo One, has scooped the Best Use for Customer Relationship Management category at the Global Messaging Congress Mobile Messaging Awards. The Impulse system (www.neoone-impulse.com) – which encourages clubbers to interact and provides marketing data to venue owners – beat 100 rival entries from 20 different countries to win the award.

Impulse has been developed in conjunction with UK nightclubs. The system allows clubbers to communicate instantly with each other, the DJ, and venue staff by sending text messages from their mobile phones to large screens in the club. Clubbers can use Impulse to chat, flirt, vote, send MMS messages, and take part in other interactive activities. Besides its SMS-to-screen capabilities, Impulse provides venues with invaluable data needed to build and maintain strong relationships with customers.

Hosted by industry pundit, Robert Hamilton, the Mobile Messaging Awards took place on 11 May at Olympia, London, and were attended by 160 industry professionals. Hamilton provided a thought-provoking insight into the mobile messaging arena, while the judges highlighted the quality and diversity displayed by the entrants. Neo One’s award for Impulse was presented by Mike Grenville, founder of 160characters.org.

Hetty Browne, managing director of Neo One, comments: ‘CRM in the nightclub industry has traditionally involved plastic membership cards and money off vouchers given on birthdays. Meanwhile, club promotion has relied on printed materials, which are costly and time-consuming to distribute. Impulse means venues can engage clubbers in an instant dialogue, so there’s a two-way channel of communication that doesn’t cost the earth. It’s great that we’ve been recognised for our work in this area.'

Speaking of the future of mobile messaging, Browne continues: ‘One-way broadcasts using SMS are outdated and don’t allow the true power of the medium to present itself. A change of mindset is needed if we’re going to move away from the broadcast model that’s synonymous with marketing and advertising, and towards a discussion-based, two-way system. As demonstrated by the nightclub industry’s use of Impulse, interactive customers are happy customers who spend more money when their loyalty has been attained.

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About Neo One

Neo One is a London based provider of consumer-driven, interactive managed services. These include: two-way SMS, nightclub interactivity, internet chat, discussion, SMS text moderation, live event production, and email response management.

www.neoone.co.uk

About The Mobile Messaging Awards

The Mobile Messaging Awards are part of the Global Messaging Congress which took place on 11-12 May 2004 at Olympia, London, UK.

www.globalmessagingcongress.com/awards