VIRGIN MOBILE USA, Inc. (VM)

[expat7]

We Are Smarter Than Me: How the Wisdom of Crowds Can Help Businesses Succeed

Published: December 06, 2007

Virgin Mobile USA

The cell phone company uses 2,000 carefully selected online customers -- "Insiders," as Virgin calls them -- to keep it abreast of trends and promising opportunities. Virgin describes the group as "a team of elite, young, and active customers," and it rewards them with free calling minutes and phone upgrades.

A joint venture of Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel, the company goes to its Insider community -- think: very hip focus group -- for help on everything from designing phones to coming up with names for service plans. As one officer of the company put it, "Ultimately, what we want to do is put young consumers backstage."

But this is not high school, and being accepted as part of the in-crowd is not the only way to be heard and earn rewards at Virgin Mobile USA. The company, whose pay-as-you-go, no-contract service has attracted 4.6 million phone users, offers all of its mostly young Chatty Cathys and Texter Thomases the chance to earn free phone minutes simply by paying attention and giving feedback on a corporate sponsor's advertisement. Any Virgin Mobile customer who watches 30-second commercials on his or her computer screen, reads text messages on a cell phone, or fills out brand survey questionnaires can earn up to 75 minutes a month of free airtime. Called Sugar Mama, the program gives a notoriously voluble group the chance to stay one step ahead of a dead cell phone by voicing their opinions.

But more to the point, Sugar Mama enables sponsoring partners to tap into the thoughts and opinions of a coveted marketing segment, and they're happy to pay for the privilege. As one corporate media director pointed out, knowing that the kids don't get paid unless they watch an ad and answer questions helps assure advertisers that they are getting honest feedback.

Catering to the crowd has also delivered an unexpected benefit to Virgin Mobile: buzz marketing. The kids are talking about the company, even those who use another network. When the company kicked off a clever text-messaging marketing program called Adopt-A-Mime that featured silent mimics in whiteface, the word spread fast, both in and out of the Virgin Mobile network. The buzz caused a notable number of non-Virgin customers to inquire about adopting a mime.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1855