This Australian Startup Will Reward You For Simply Unlocking Your Phone

It’s cliché to say that time is finite, but it’s becoming vogue to say that attention is too. Attention is today’s most scarce resource because of the hyper stimulation in the digital economy. Think of content platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Amazon, Snapchat, Twitter, Twitch. They are everywhere. And because of their prevalence, there is unrelenting competition for consumer attention. This means brands, which previously only had to contend with each other to engage potential customers, are now challenged by a plethora of competitors.

In response to this competitive evolution, an Australian startup has identified a marketing medium that hopes to differentiate businesses in a saturating attention economy.

This under-utilized channel is the mobile phone unlock screen.

Unlock and Go

Unlockd is an "enterprise mobile platform that rewards consumers when they unlock their mobile phone and view targeted ads, content or offers.” Founded by Matt Berriman in 2014, the startup hopes to innovate a new marketing frontier by creating a "value exchange" between advertisers and consumers.

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Here’s how it works.

Unlockd partners with telecommunication providers as a means of disseminating their technology through a white labeled app.  Consumers who opt-in then download the free app and input profile information such as age and gender, which dictates the types of ads shown to them. It is from here that consumers will be served targeted content from advertisers and streaming platforms when they unlock their phones. After accumulating credits for viewing the ads, consumers are rewarded at the end of each month with Unlockd value in the form of mobile credit, music streaming, movies, loyalty points or other rewards”.

In my conversation with Berriman, he explained how building a platform that tangibly rewarded consumers was one of Unlockd’s priorities. “It’s about building a totality of consumer value exchange… We went to telcos first because that was a big pain point. People don’t like paying their phone bills.”

But the appeal of the startup extends beyond just discounts and rewards.

By curating ad content specific to individual users, Unlockd utilizes the psychology of behavioral targeted advertising to promote more engaged user behavior. When consumers are shown an ad perceived to be individually tailored based on their behavior, they are inclined to resonate more pertinently with its content. This is because there is a belief that the ads have been intentionally served. Subconsciously, consumers view the content as a reflection of themselves, which encourages a greater interest in the content being advertised.

Berriman echoed this sentiment and suggested that consumers were open to viewing ads they viewed as applicable. “Sixty percent of customers will be happy to get content every time they open their phone if they are [relevant]."

Source: Forbes.com