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AskMeNow

Challenge

With a new company entering the mobile space almost weekly, those with the best, most revolutionary products are challenged to differentiate themselves. AskMeNow retained RLM to drive their business objectives of capitalizing on the explosive growth of the wireless content marketplace to attract customers—quickly. AskMeNow was not, however, sure to position their product to break through the media clutter.

Strategy

AskMeNow customers can call in a question from their cell phone and receive the answer, not links, back in a few minutes. AskMeNow could be called a mobile answering service. But RLM quickly realized the service is much more than that. Since AskMeNow customers had routinely asked personal questions during the initial beta test (“Should I wear a blue shirt today?”), RLM recommended positioning the services as a mobile lifestyle network.

Tactics

After successfully pitching AskMeNow to premier top-tier tech writers including Ed Baig at USA Today and Walt Mossberg at The Wall Street Journal, RLM realized the story could grow cold fast (there are only so many tech writers). But by focusing on the cultural part of the product, positioning the product as a mobile lifestyle network, and showcasing how it impacts a person’s lifestyle, the story could be tailored for other verticals, such as travel (which resulted in a second feature article in USA Today).

RLM also carefully monitored trends in the mobile industry to make sure AskMeNow’s unique offering was included in every possible story. For example, with mobile marketing/advertising a hot topic for advertising writers, RLM secured a feature article in the New York Times advertising section. When back to school articles were being developed, RLM secured an Associated Press story about using the Web to help with homework; that article subsequently appeared in more than 50 publications.

Results

Thanks to RLM’s unique positioning of AskMeNow and ability to secure placements with top-tier media, AskMeNow was frequently featured as a top innovator. Coverage included: