giffgaff™ – Social Media Newsroom

giffgaff, the UK’s first community-run mobile phone network launches today.  With no call centres, contracts, shops or big budget TV advertising, the web 2.0 inspired business offers the public a genuine alternative to the existing big mobile networks.

Dubbed as ‘the Wikipedia of the mobile world’, giffgaff encourages customers to get involved and rewards them for every contribution they make. Community spirit earns points: this can include helping other members with queries, voicing opinions about how giffgaff should be run or simply spreading the word amongst their friends. Points are later exchanged for cash or a donation to a charity of the community’s choice.

With customers helping to manage everything from marketing to customer support, the network is affordable to all, without hidden charges and long contracts and where unlimited truly means unlimited.

giffgaff was the brainchild of Gav Thompson whilst at a Web 2.0 event in Silicon Valley, he said:  “In my opinion, the power of the community can now run the best encyclopaedia service on the planet and be the motivating force behind a successful presidential election campaign. So, for a significant minority of people who aren’t turned on by big companies and big brands, we are of the opinion that giffgaff can harness the power of the community to run a simpler mobile network where people get rewarded for helping out.”

giffgaff began operating in a test phase in September 2009, which has allowed it to create a strong core community who have played a key role in developing its offering.  Last month giffgaff launched goodybags, a range of four truly unlimited bundles – created in consultation with this community. giffgaff’s goodybags provide great value calls, texts and mobile internet offers with none of the usual restrictions or small print, making it a unique offering in the mobile phone market.

Mike Fairman, giffgaff CEO, said:

“giffgaff is a genuine alternative to the big networks.  Since our test phase began in September 2009, we have created a strong community of 6,000 who have been running giffgaff and shaping it into what they want.  We don’t have huge call centres and retail shops to run, which means we can keep costs low while making our members feel part of the brand.

“A great example of how giffgaff is run by its community is the launch of goodybags, our price bundles which are truly unlimited. We asked our community what they wanted, and received 285 responses, which helped to guide the development of the product.”

To celebrate its arrival, giffgaff is launching its first ever national advertising campaign this week, which will be appearing in print and on LCD screens in rail stations.

Registering is easy – people simply order a free SIM at giffgaff.com and top up £10 to get started.

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giffgaff, a new community-led mobile phone network is launching its first ever advertising campaign as it emerges from its beta phase. Debuting early next week, the national campaign is designed to engage and attract the millions of mobile users who are ready to embrace a new kind of mobile network run in conjunction with its community rather than larger, more impersonal corporate entities.

The centrepiece of the adverts, developed with creative agency Albion, is a caricature of ‘The Man’ – an anonymous figure seemingly in control of the world.  Each execution takes a tongue in cheek look at The Man lampooning his excessive behaviours, from frequenting gentlemen’s clubs to avoiding use of public transport.  Consumers are encouraged to take back control by entering the world of community-led giffgaff, a new kind of mobile network ‘run by you ’, without hidden charges and long contracts and where unlimited truly means unlimited.

Planned by Zenith, giffgaff’s first foray into advertising will debut in the Metro and on LCD screens in rail stations across the country on 1st June. The outlets have been carefully selected to reflect the brand’s commitment to keep costs low by avoiding big budget TV advertising.

Cristel Lee Lead, Chief of Marketing, said: “We wanted our launch campaign to communicate in a humorous and engaging way that there is finally a refreshing alternative for consumers in the world of mobile operators.  giffgaff is a new and very different kind of mobile phone company, that delivers a cost-effective way of doing mobile. It’s the leading alternative for consumers who want all the benefits of being in a contract, but without the lengthy, restrictive terms.”

Mike Fairman, giffgaff CEO, said: “There are over six million people in the UK who prefer to steer clear of big mobile companies, so with giffgaff we’re providing an alternative.  Since BETA launch in November 2009, we have a strong community of 6,000 who have been running giffgaff and shaping it into what they want.  We don’t have huge call centres or retail shops to run and the fact that we don’t make extravagant flashy ads means we can keep costs low, while making our members  feel part of the brand.

A great example of how giffgaff is run by its community, and not by The Man, is the launch of goodybags, our price bundles, which are truly unlimited. We asked our community what they wanted, and received 285 responses, which helps to guide the development of the product. “

The three week long campaign will run until 22nd June to further boost giffgaff’s offering nationwide and to mark the significance of its official launch, building on its previous success.

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Cutting edge mobile phone operator challenges eager job applicants to make it famous

Forget uncomfortable interviews or dusting off the suit, a new mobile phone company has launched a job hunt with a difference.

giffgaff, the UK’s first ever people-powered mobile phone operator, is tasking jobseekers  with making its brand world famous. If applicants can achieve this in just four weeks, they have the chance to secure a top marketing role within the company.

Each applicant has two weeks to come up with a jaw dropping social marketing idea. The ideas could be anything from attracting celebrity supporters to sparking a YouTube explosion to getting giffgaff on the front page of a newspaper. They will submit their plan of action to the giffgaff team who will then shortlist those with the best ideas. The selected people will then be asked to make their idea a reality in the remaining two weeks. giffgaff is already well known for creative marketing from its community members and expects to celebrate creativity and social media expertise in Britain with this job application.

The challenge is open to any member of the public who has a desire to work in the exciting world of marketing or telecommunications, and continues giffgaff’s commitment to doing mobile differently. Interested applicants can learn more about how the challenge will work here: http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/Could-this-be-your-opportunity-to-come-work-with-us-at-giffgaff/ba-p/11205

Following modern phenomena like Wikipedia and Facebook, giffgaff is people-powered: the network is affordable to all as a rapidly growing community of customers takes matters into its own hands by managing everything from marketing to customer service.

Whether you’re simply looking for great value, or want to go a step further and earn rewards for your involvement, giffgaff offers something for everyone. giffgaff rewards its users with points for every contribution they make to support the brand: this might include producing a giffgaff branded video, event, social network or simply spreading word of mouth.  The points are then exchanged for cash or for free calls, texts and mobile browsing.

Research commissioned by giffgaff reveals that many jobseekers across the UK would currently do anything to land themselves a permanent role within a company. The findings uncovered that 60% of British jobseekers believe finding a job has become even more difficult, despite being told the recession is beginning to subside.

Two fifths (44%) worry they won’t get the type of job they want, while a further 18% fears they won’t get any type of job at all.

The research also reveals the lengths that some would go to in order to secure work including sleeping with someone in a position of power, working for free for over a year or lying about their qualifications. The top 10 desperate measures taken by job hunters are:

1.  Take a job that’s very loosely linked to the job you want or take a pay cut
2.  Go back to school/retrain for the role
3.  Befriend somebody in the company
4.  Bombard the employer with calls and e-mails
5. Turn up at a reception to collar the employer
6.  Advertise your services on Facebook etc
7.  Work for free for over a year
8.  Lie about your qualifications
9.  Sleep with somebody in a position of power
10.  Make a spectacle of yourself so the employer will notice you e.g. don a sandwich-board with your qualifications on it

Mike Fairman, the gaffer, said: “Despite what we’re being told about the country coming out of recession, finding a job doesn’t seem to be getting easier and this research shows that some people are prepared to go to extreme lengths to give themselves a chance.  There are many alternative ways to make it to the top, and although we don’t expect any romantic encounters to result, we are offering up the opportunity for anyone to make us sit up and take notice of their own unique way.

Fairman continued: “We’ll watch and measure everyone’s efforts. As long as we can see something tangible such as a newspaper article, video, online blog or Facebook page, we promise we’ll take a look. We’ll also interview as many people as we can, so the bigger the fuss they can create, the better chance they’ll have of bagging a great job with a salary to match.”

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New community-run mobile phone network, giffgaff is today introducing its first ever price packages, which are the only truly unlimited in the mobile market.   The aptly named ‘goodybags,’ have been developed in consultation with the growing giffgaff community to bring simple and affordable packages to all – with no hidden costs or confusing small print.

By listening to its community, giffgaff learnt that although value was important to its users, what they really wanted was clear and fair pricing without hidden costs and restricting small print.  So, in a mobile market where unlimited doesn’t always mean unlimited, giffgaff is pioneering the cause by giving people the chance to dodge ‘fair usage’ policies and get exactly what it says on the tin.

giffgaff’s range of no nonsense goodybags offer simple mobile phone price packages with no  limits or catches. For text addict giffgaffers, £5 will buy unlimited UK texts for a whole month, (the lowest price in the market) or for members who don’t want to worry about how many calls they are making when they are out and about, they can have unlimited UK calls texts and mobile internet for £35.
Mike Fairman, the gaffer said “Increasing numbers of consumers demand to be more involved, engaged and interactive with brands and giffgaff has been built to respond to this. Where eBay, Wikipedia and Facebook have led the way, giffgaff is trailblazing for mobile in response to a growing dissatisfaction amongst consumers with big mobile networks.

Our customers are part of our brand and so it was only right to ask them how they use their mobiles and what they wanted to see when it comes to offers and pricing. Our members said ‘don’t call it unlimited if it has limits’, so we have deliberately made the offering very simple to fit with our no nonsense philosophy. Our growing community of giffgaffers have ultimately engineered the goodybags so we know they will be well received.”

Today giffgaff also unveiled its new look website, which will give customers a refreshed window to members services as well as access to the community forums and discussion boards. The revamp comes as the brand prepares to come out of beta with a full scale consumer launch planned later this year.

Trick202, a valued member of the giffgaff community helped to shape the goodybags – he said: “Where else are customers given the opportunity to make important decisions for a company, especially price? giffgaff is a breath of fresh air in the mobile market.  The new goodybags prove how community-led the brand is, and the more we get involved, the more we are rewarded!”

*giffgaff goodybags are the only mobile phone bundles available on the market that don’t have a fair usage policy in place, making them truly unlimited

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