Blyk names Eric Kip as CEO

Blyk, the mobile messaging media, has announced the appointment of Eric Kip as Chief Executive Officer. Eric Kip had joined Blyk in 2009 and was previously CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) of Blyk. He has 20 years of experience working with advertising in various executive media functions.

Before joining Blyk, he held executive management positions at two major media agencies: Initiative (part of IPG) and MediaCom (part of WPP). During this time, Kip contributed strongly to building positive consumer receptivity to advertising messages. In his earlier role as Marketing Director of The Coca-Cola Company in the Netherlands, he focused on communication with young consumers.

Blyk Co-founder Pekka Ala-Pietilä will continue as Chairman of Blyk. Blyk Asia growth is driven by Antti Ohrling, Co-founder of Blyk and Chairman of Blyk Media, India. Through its partnership with Aircel in India, where Blyk focuses on the youth segment of 16-29, the “Blyk on Aircel” service reached over 1 million customers in just six months from launching. It has already worked with leading brands to establish Blyk as one of the most powerful youth medium in India.

With mobile advertising and marketing being one of the hottest growth areas at the moment, many new opportunities are arising. Blyk is meeting these opportunities by opening an APAC office in Singapore a year ago, and through active negotiations with top tier mobile operators and media agencies. Some of the key proof points that Blyk works can be seen in customer satisfaction: the sustainable 25 per cent response rate for profiled customers on Blyk, continued engagement increased ARPU and ROI as well a considerable reduction of churn.