Ringing Back With More Noise

I pick up everything I can on ringbacks and here is a wonderful explanatory piece from TheFeature.com, detailing the history of the South Korean technology hit. "More than a third of SK Telecom's 16 million subscribers have signed up for the service, paying an average of more than USD 2 per month for it. One estimate puts the total spent in the country on ringback tones in 2002 at about USD 90 million, with the figure expected to increase sharply this year.

Interesting, TheFeature points out that for carriers, the services could serve as a perfect breeding ground for viral marketing. Since the tones are played to everyone that calls the number, regardless of their own carrier or if they're on a mobile or land line, ringback tones can quickly become a strong service differentiator. The novelty of the service will undoubtedly lead a caller to ask "What was that?" allowing the first carrier in a market to offer the service a tremendous jump on its competitors.

Companies could also use the service as a marketing tool, offering their own ringback tones featuring advertising jingles or messages from celebrities, just as some brands now give away ringtones.

Ringback services have recently been launched in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and China, US carriers are expected to roll out ringback tones in time for the Christmas season, with Europe by early 2004.

emily | 5:53 PM | Ringback Tones |
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