'The Generator' is underway

I’m back and very excited to report that development of ‘The Generator is now under way!

The last two weeks of R.F.Q review and finalisation has been quite a lengthy process, however a massive learning curve for us and an important evaluation and re-scoping of the application as a whole. We soon realised from the response proposals and quotes that the application we had originally briefed needed to be tweaked from a workability perspective as well as to fit in with our timelines and budget. In brief we decided we would need phase the project out so that the first phase which we would have for launch on the 29th June would just be workable shell, which we could then add to and prettify as we acquire clientele, bring about phase2 and phase3. The most part of this involved reviewing responses, conducting follow up meetings, understanding what would and wouldn’t work, and seeing what each individual developer would be able to provide us for the project as a whole. We then asked them to come back to us based on the new requirements with what they could provide.

It was very important for us to find a company who we felt we could trust, would be able to work effectively with, and who we could continue the future work on ‘The Generator’ with. At the end of review process we decided to partner with the company that was able to tweak and trim the application to fit the above needs without losing the core of what we were trying to achieve. The successful company who has been awarded the development project is Destar;

Company Profile: Destar Limited was founded in 2000 to help companies wanting to develop their own mobile proposition or expand into the mobile space. The directors of Destar Limited have over 30 years combined experience in the mobile industry covering both the commercial and technical aspects of many leading edge services. This experience has been gained in a number of environments, including a major global network operator, a FTSE 100 media company and several mobile start-ups.Key projects have included the launch & management of GSM voicemail, development of an SMS prepay billing platform, conception and launch of a multi platform portal and the introduction of the first UK SMS banking service. More recently Destar has produced an SMS and IP gateway for heavy plant tracking and fleet vehicle management and provided advice on the launch of a new messaging device into the UK market. Destar is also a boutique provider of Messaging services to small businesses and provides SMS infrastructure to a number of public service help lines. It is the exclusive provider of SMS services to one of the UK’s largest call centre solutions supplier.

Development work got underway this week, and I have to say I’m so excited to start seeing all the hard work and planning come to life!! Over the next two weeks each element of the first phase application will be built, tested and approved by us as it moves along the process. Communication and response times between both parties will be imperative over this time in order for the project to be kept on track. We are working towards a testing date of the 11th May 2009, at which point we will be able to see everything working together.

Destar will be providing us with weekly updates on their progress which I will be able to share with you all here.

As I mentioned in my last post we need a suitable campaign to test launch the application with. Work is ongoing with this, but as promised here is a previous mobile social networking campaign conceptualised, built and delivered by Indie Mobile;

Go Audio – Spread the Beat:

The Brief: To create a fun and interactive campaign which Go:Audio fans can take ownership of, whilst inviting new ones into their world.

The Pitch: Indie Mobile will create what is essentially a viral relay race. Instead of a baton, people pass on ‘the beat’ – one or a number of exclusive audio tracks as supplied by the label. The Spread the Beat campaign allows Go:Audio fans to take part in a UK wide SMS/Web race for the chance to win a prize. The campaign starts with existing fans, but soon reaches out beyond this, helping to build awareness of the band.

The Process:

SMS sent out to existing fans about free audio track

Users that reply receive a link which takes them to a GO:AUDIO branded WAP site on their phone.

This site provides the best browsing experience that the user’s handset can support.

On the site they are invited to fill out a form.

The WAP form asks the user to enter their name, postcode, a friend’s mobile number and confirm they have read the terms and conditions.

Upon completing and submitting their details the user is thanked and receives a link to the exclusive audio track along with a unique username and password for the Spread the Beat website.

The Website:

The website contains a Google Maps implementation that pinpoints all the users in a specific relay and links them in the order they joined.

Clicking on a specific user’s point brings up their name, time joined and optionally an image they have uploaded.

Visitors can choose to view the longest relays or enter a mobile number and see the relay that it is part of.

If they login with their details, a user can customise their point on the map by uploading a custom image and selecting an icon to represent them

The End: At the end of the campaign a user is chosen randomly from the relay with the most people.

Finally; we have the Media Sandbox dinner this week which is always interesting and lots of fun. I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone and finding out how their projects are coming along.

See you soon...