Flirtomatic was a worthy champion at the nma Effectiveness Awards

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 | By Alex Farber

It beat off stiff competition from a range of entries, including industry favourite Compare The Market. But without dissing the meerkat, Flirtomatic amounts to more than a clever creative idea that has been superbly executed across multiple platforms.

The mobile-centric social network, which also has an online element, was rewarded chiefly for combining thorough ROI activity with innovations to continue growth. It totals 1m unique users who send 25m messages each month and delivered 1bn ad impressions last year.

But the business is just as dependent on real revenue from members who buy flirt points and gifts as it is on fickle ad revenues.

In an interview for the new media age podcast, recorded directly after Flirtomatic’s win, its commercial director Matt Dicks likened the network to a day trip to the park. “You can come to the park for free,” he told me, “but if you want an ice cream you’ll have to pay for it.”

This analogy underlines the reason for Flirtomatic’s success: it has kept one eye firmly on making money but has been careful to maintain the user experience throughout.

Flirtomatic has also been quick and brave enough to invest in new opportunities, such as mobile display and search advertising, and seen its customer acquisition costs fall by four times as a result of clever use of analytics, helped by its media agency Agenda21.

It has been quick to do savvy deals, particularly with operators when the opportunity has arisen, and hasn’t been afraid to spend.

It may not yet be Twitter or Facebook in terms of size or awareness, but Flirtomatic does have a functioning business model which arguably make it as valuable as either online giant.