MXit
The Sunday Times Generation Next Survey research, conducted by HDI Youth Marketeers, polled 5,300 young urban South Africans between the ages of 8 and 22. For the third year in the history of the awards, MXit has topped the poll in the Coolest Website and Social Network category.
MXit’s edgy slogan “Join the evolution” came second place in the Coolest Brand Slogan category, after Nike’s “Just do it”.
“We are so pleased with these accolades and would really like to thank our users. Our philosophy has always been squarely centred on making the mobile social networking experience a really valuable and fun one for our users, and these awards show us that this is working,” says Herman Heunis, CEO and founder of MXit.
“We have also just been shortlisted for the 2009 Meffy Awards (Mobile Entertainment Forum awards) in the Mobile First Innovation category for launching our first IM Book. ‘Emily and the battle of the veil’ was recently added to our already vast entertainment portfolio. MXit users can read the full book while on the go for a mere R13.50, which is a fraction of the cost of a title purchased in a traditional book store. We are hoping that this will make reading a lot more accessible to people from all backgrounds and cultures,” continues Heunis.
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Editors notes:
• The Sunday Times Generation Next Survey offer brands key insights to help develop business ideas around. A robust quantitative research study like this lets marketers and industry leaders in on kids’, teens’ and young adults’ thoughts about brands in a way that lets them leverage them for market advantage: from brand partnerships to new product development.
• The Meffy’s is the mobile industry’s official benchmark for measuring success and rewarding innovation and aims to honour the most influential players from around the world. It recognises the global brands, start-ups and visionaries of the industry who have helped shape the mobile entertainment industry. The awards are judged by independent experts and analysts.
About MXit
MXit is a free instant messaging program for both mobile phones and PCs. It allows members to chat to other MXit users anywhere in the world. It also allows users to send text messages to and from mobile phones and PCs using GPRS or 3G instead of using standard SMS technology, which is expensive.
The social networking element of the business is the cornerstone of its growth. MXit is a new generation company that boasts over 13 million members globally and is growing by 18 000 users per day. It is in constant evolution to match the needs of its users and is set on becoming one of the biggest instant messaging mobile networks in the world and the preferred mobile social network for communicating with young people in South East Asia, Africa and globally.
The company introduced mobile instant messaging to South Africa. It started as a mobile game developer and evolved into a mobile instant messaging company, allowing its users to send messages at a fraction of the cost of traditional SMS.
To download MXit: Open your mobile browser, type in www.mxit.com/wap and simply follow the prompts.
Issued by and for more information:
FD Beachhead
Sandra Sampayo 079 167 6863 / 021487 9000 / sandra.sampayo@fd.com
Dumezulu Maphophe 082 333 4659 / 021487 9000 /dumezulu.maphophe@fd.com
