Carving a model success in mobile marketing

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

Venturing into a revolutionary industry requires one to be constantly updated of latest developments and be vigilant of the ever changing consumer tastes and demands. zMessenger (Pvt) Ltd CEO, Jayomi Lokuliyana the premier mobile marketing company in Sri Lanka, considers meeting the challenges of every day life as a stimulant to be innovative.

As the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at zMessenger she has played a pivotal role in shaping the mobile marketing industry in Sri Lanka. Jayomi has led mobile marketing and campaign strategy for major brands, agencies, direct marketers, social missions and other enterprises. Her appetite to make a difference in a field where numerous business opportunities are available is a proven success as she was able to carve a niche market with a novel approach. Jayomi’s journey to success is sure to inspire emerging young entrepreneurs in selecting a sustainable business proposition.

She was interviewed by Daily News Business.

Excerpts of the interview.

Q. How do you describe your line of business?

A. zMessenger is a mobile based business solution provider. The services range include bulk SMS enterprise management, aggregator services, SMS and 2D code campaigns, brand mobile sites, mobile sweepstakes, sampling and contesting, mobile video, custom mobile apps, social media integration, mCommerce and NFC solutions. This is the tenth year of operation and was started with an initial capital of Rs one million under technology incubator concept which was an initiative to promote IT businesses where start- up facilities were provided. With 3 to 4 employees at the inception the venture has grown to employ over 40 members including the developers. We made painstaking measures to educate and explain the potential customers regarding the concept and scope of our services and the business grew gradually.

We do citizen’s journalism, market research and gather quick opinion. Initially we tied up with one private TV station and now we have a number of media stations. The company was involved in successful realty and live shows. This is the most cost effective communication medium. This was the first level of business and we expanded the same platform to media stations which generated a new revenue stream with interactive programs with value added services by providing a variety of products including astrology, beauty tips, grooming and cricket alerts and have build up a subscriber base of 700,000.

We will be venturing into mobile commerce this year and we recently started “Star Friends” involving 16 registered stars where the full service will be available from next month through all the mobile operators.

Q. How do you manage time to handle your personal life?

A. I have two sons Dhivyan 8 years and Dhirain 4 years. Due to heavy involvement in business finding time is not easy. I work on a particular time schedule and allocate sufficient time for them. My parents give me a great support in bringing them up and this has made my life easy.

Q. What motivated you to venture into business?

A. I have this flare to take risk. I believe in something new and innovation, it gives me the drive to move forward. When business is taking off it gives immense pleasure and venturing into a new medium was my dream where a market study indicated huge potential.

Q. What are your goals?

A. My goal would be to steer a technology based company to expand its horizons to become a global company venturing into parallel markets of Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives. In 2008, we partnered an Indonesian company where the market is well ahead in the IT industry.

As the country has very good developers we will be able to go into the global market easily. I want to be a role model for female entrepreneurs and broad base their outlook as the support system is more towards the males.

Q. How do you face the challenges of competition?

A. We are a small company competing with giants in the industry. We always change our playing field which allows us to keep ahead.

We constantly innovate adding new features and in-depth services. We recently introduce mobile video and promoted the use of mobile specific ads where it became a whole new dimension in mobile application.

Q. What are your views on facilities for emerging entrepreneurs?

A. While more encouragement is necessary by way of system support and guidance the banking industry should look at the business projects in more positive manner. Its approach should be to promote entrepreneurs and not to turn down their applications for funding. This proactive role needs to be more entrepreneur- friendly.

Q. What is your specialty?

A. Constant innovation and creativity for a total solution make us stand out. We take up challenges and never give up. We present our products to operators and when they accept them it become public domain.

Q. What are your achievements in family and business?

A. We were the 2005 winners of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing’s Brand Champion for the Most Innovative Brand of the Year at the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards.

I have also served on the Executive Committees of Chartered Institute of Marketing and Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing.

I impart my knowledge as a lecturer for marketing and has lectured at several leading marketing schools. I earned the Master of Business Administration from the Postgraduate Institute of Marketing, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and an Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK.

As a CEO responsible for the company’s overall operations, marketing and sales, we have successfully completed mobile marketing campaigns, subscriber acquisition campaigns, interactive game shows and subscription services.

I was also responsible for the implementation of long-term mobile advocacy campaigns for several social missions, of which the campaign for ‘Monitoring Election Violence via SMS’ won a commended award from World GSM Awards for ‘Best Use of Mobile in an Emergency”. The company secured the Sri Lanka Cricket mobile rights where it is recognized under the law for commercial purposes to provide updates.

One of our products ‘my horoscope” was given an award at the recently concluded e-Swarnabhimani ceremony.

The company entered into exclusive agreements with Unilever, SriLankan Airline and HSBC among our prestige clientele.

Q. What is your message to society?

A. My message is more directed towards the youth and they need to have a pragmatic shift in thinking when embarking on a career path. They should look forward to entrepreneurship and become entrepreneurs driving the development of the country. In this era they can do great things with the technology. I am working towards a society of this nature where prosperity becomes the centre stage.

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