The Spanish content giant will use its expertise in consumer marketing and CRM to target B2B partners.
For many watchers of the mobile content space, Zed is a bit of an enigma. It was widely perceived as this ringtone vendor that had tremendous success in Latin countries and emerging territories.
Suddenly, two years ago, it was visible everywhere with its plans for moving into social media, movies and even virtual worlds. Then it all went quiet again until the Player X purchase.
So where are we at now?
Well, according to the recently appointed country manager of Zed UK, Michalia Negri, the firm is set to accelerate into B2B services.
ME sat down with Negri to get the full story...
For all its diversification, Zed is still perceived as a D2C specialist. Is this correct?
Well, we're still running the D2C clubs and in some regions they're flourishing. But in the UK, which is my first priority, we're now ready to start transitioning into the B2B space. Our experience in running D2C clubs, and all the marketing and CRM skills that come with that, will be transferred into the work we do with operators and brands. That was the original vision behind the Player X acquisition. Player X has fantastic relationships and 140 operator deals worldwide, so we really believe that we have the right combination of skills to make a success of this.
So what exactly will you offer B2B partners?
Zed has got a huge global footprint and a wide range of capabilities. We have offices in 55 countries employing 1,500 people – and that local presence is extremely important to potential partners. In terms of services, we can offer everything from end-to-end content management solutions and multi-channel optimisation to porting and testing to original content development and storefronts.
And who are you targeting?
Retailers, IP owners, media companies – as we all know, there is such a lot of interest in the mobile channel now right across the board.
This new direction takes Zed into so many new areas that you're going to be taking on a host of new competitors – whether it's the traditional D2C companies like Buongiorno and Fox or specialists in messaging, billing and interactive services like MIG, for example. How will you compete?
There's always competition in a growth area like this, but I would stress that we will cooperate as much as we will compete. So, for example, we could work with a broadcaster that might already have a partner for voting and so on, and we'd see how we could work together there. We might take someone else's content and port it. So I just think that there are enough differences between us all, and enough room in the market, for everyone to co-exist.
One of Zed's biggest and most successful gambles has been in the devising of TV formats that embed mobile in the show itself (Its Instantly Rich show uses TV, web, and mobile as contestants navigate different challenges in order to garner voting support from viewers via SMS or landline).
These shows have been amazingly popular in Spain and Argentina. They really work – and that's because of what we know about consumers from our background as a company. We're able to market the shows well and to create interactive mechanics that really become part of the show concept itself.
Much was expected of Planet 51, the CGI movie that was produced by Ignacio Perez Dolset (brother of Zed CEO, Javier). It didn't seem to be especially successful...
Actually it did OK in the US, but very well around the world. We certainly regard it as a success.
In 2008, Javier Perez Dolset told me that the regulators had mismanaged the UK D2C market into oblivion, and that Zed makes more money from Bangladesh. Are there any plans to re-activate that market in the UK?
There's been lots of bad publicity around the D2C market in the UK, and we haven't really been active there for three years. It's not a focus for me right now. As I said before, we're really trying to bring our expertise in that area into our work with third parties. We're speaking to one retailer, for example, about running a kind of club for its users.
Advertisement
