the story of mobile vikings

I am going to tell you a story

About a very big dog and a very small dog

Telco Dog

Viking Dog

Telco Dog

Both dogs lived in an exciting world

They were active in the telecom business

And their business was growing dramatically

And the old big dog said to the small young dog

In the telecom world there are some rules you have to respect

The rules of telecom are

The rules of telecom are

• Big marketing budget

The rules of telecom are

• Big marketing budget• Well trained sales team

The rules of telecom are

• Big marketing budget• Well trained sales team• (Flagship) stores at AAA-locations

The rules of telecom are

• Big marketing budget• Well trained sales team• (Flagship) stores at AAA-locations• Binding contracts for 2 years

The rules of telecom are

• Big marketing budget• Well trained sales team• (Flagship) stores at AAA-locations• Binding contracts for 2 years• Concentrate on sales not on service

But the young dog attended the CWF11

Where Jimmy Wales told him

IgnoreAll

Rules

Because everything is changing

Companies that were too big to fail …

Failed

And some new companies came

Out of nothing

Companies with strange new business models and sometimes even without one.

Companies with strange new business models and sometimes even without one.

But they grew very fast and had milions and milions of followers

What did they have in common?

What did they have in common?

• None of them were a technology company

What did they have in common?

• None of them were a technology company• They were all platform companies

What did they have in common?

• None of them were a technology company• They were all platform companies• They were all community driven

What did they have in common?

• None of them were a technology company• They were all platform companies• They were all community driven• And the first three were very strong in mobile

And some had a great vision…

Knowledge is a basic rightJimmy Wales

And the viking dog also had a vision

Free Mobile Internet is a basic right

His vision

And he believed he could make that happen

And he believed he could make that happen

By changing the rules

No marketing budget

But a lot of followers on social media

Facebook : 15.707

Twitter : 10.893

No sales team

But over 60.000 ambassadors

No flagship store

But a shop that is open 24/7

No contract

But freedom to leave anytime

No traditional call center

But an open helpdesk

• Email• Twitter• Facebook• Calls

• Help a viking (Program)

But most importantly

But most importantly

He tried to build a very dedicated community. And he didn’t want to call them customers, but Vikings.Open communication with and

between them was key.

And did it work?

And did it work?

• They became by far the cheapest mobile data player in Belgium

And did it work?

• They became by far the cheapest mobile data player in Belgium

• 68% of the Mobile Vikings were referred by another Mobile Viking

And did it work?

• They became by far the cheapest mobile data player in Belgium

• 68% of the Mobile Vikings were referred by another Mobile Viking

• They had by far the lowest percentage of people that left the community within the first year (and this without a contract)

This was their growth curve

jan mrtmei jul

sep

nov jan mrtmei jul

sep

nov jan mrtmei jul

sep

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

This is their exact number this morning

But cheap is not for free!!!

That’s why he started building Mobile Vikings 2.0

Unfortunately it is not possible to tell the whole story during this 7 min speech

What I can tell?

What I can tell?

• The Mobile Vikings will start an experiment in December in Hasselt

What I can tell?

• The Mobile Vikings will start an experiment in December in Hasselt

• If you are a Mobile Viking

What I can tell?

• The Mobile Vikings will start an experiment in December in Hasselt

• If you are a Mobile Viking• And you live in the area of Hasselt

And we’ll keep you updated

secretproject@mobilevikings.com

Send an email to

For everybody else Follow us @

www.mobilevikings.comfacebook.com/wearemobilevikings

@mobilevikings

Thanks for listening

frank@mobilevikings.com