Webaroo has announced the launch of a new group messaging service in India, called "SMS GupShup".
The company says "SMS GupShup" is a free service that offers users a chance to create groups of any size, and communicate within them. The messages sent by the creator of the group are forwarded by Webaroo, at no charge, to all members of the group.
Using a single SMS message, users can join any group they want. Once a part of the group, the members will then automatically receive messages posted to the group as an SMS on their phone. Besides, users can use SMS messages to create their own groups, and also to invite friends, and post messages to the group.
Moreover, users can also run a poll, rating, and quiz within their group. The groups and their messages are available online at www.smsgupshup.com as an archive, except for private groups.Talking about the service, Beerud Sheth, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Webaroo, said, "SMS Gupshup is a fun, new, and powerful SMS service for users of any mobile phone. It is an ideal tool for connecting with friends, building new relationships, and forming mobile communities."
According to Webaroo, this free service can be used to stay connected with friends, to receive alerts and notifications, as well as to stay updated with news and current events. In addition, users can also receive weather updates or sports scores from their favorite sources.
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4 comments:
needless to say...the product has the potential to be a run away success... but what defeats me is why webaroo doesnt want to be aggressive in marketing it.
i dont think the service idea is patented...and the chances are it mite be easily replicated by someone in the future. if that someone happens to be havin deep-pockets... u can rest assured to see some major bucks flowin for its marketing.
webaroo sure mite have its own logic for doing wat it is doing... but isnt there a chance that webaroo mite just lose its first mover advantage if something like the above mentioned happens??
Hi champrules,
According to me, Webaroo is going the path that other web 2.0 companies have followed when it comes to marketing their products. This involves no advertising, only some PR and loads of word of mouth publicity to create a viral product. I agree that replication is a matter of concern but that is faced by every startup which has something unique to offer to people. And according to me, if a product is good, people consume it and stick to it no matter what.
see thats where the point is...
though webaroo mite want to treat it as a web 2.0 product (like all its other products)....it is more of a product for an average mobile user.
i with my nokia 3315 (which is not web-enabled) can still use the product with no issues. that isnt true with other webaroo products...i dont think any of the other webaroo products will work on standard non-web enabled cellphones. and thats wat majority of people in india have....non-web enabled cell phones. and this is a huge chunk of audience that webaroo mite completely miss if it doesnt get aggressive in marketing it. this audience is the sec-B and sec C+ of the society...and i have doubts whether PR and viral marketing will be effective for these segments.
its a completely different case if webaroo only wants to target the web-enabled mobile market... but i dont think thats the case with this product.
Hi champrules,
According to me, one of the reasons Webaroo is not pursuing aggressive marketing is probably because first of all marketing is very expensive, and for a startup investing a large amount of money which cannot guarantee returns is very risky. For a startup its very important that they manage their finances and resources effectively. I agree with the fact that most of the mobile phone users in India have very low end phones. But if you see the graph of every successful and viral product, word of mouth publicity has done more good than anything else to it. You and I may have our opinions on marketing and non-marketing. But ultimately its the end user who consumes it is going to make all the difference to the Gupshup story.
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