If you were responsible for marketing, business development and overall promotion for a new social networking business growing at 40,000 members a month, what would you do first?
That’s the challenge of Tobias Kemper, Nimbuzz’ VP of its USA division. With headquarters in Holland (nine hours away from Silicon Valley), his days start early and end late.
Now in over 200 countries with 10 million members, Nimbuzz works closely with social giants Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, MySpace in the U.S. plus GaduGadu, Hyves, StudiVZ, Giovani and others overseas. The sun never sets on Nimbuzz.
Similar to MXit in South Africa, Nimbuzz is creating a mobile social networking service.
Nimbuzz enables people to enjoy free & low cost mobile phone calls, free instant messaging, social networking and other rich communication features, using the Internet capabilities of their mobile device. The online social networking service is also available using a PC or Mac.
The brainchild of Dutch entrepreneur & CEO, Evert Jaap Lugt, Nimbuzz took two years to develop, officially launched in May 2008 (August, 2009 in the U.S.) and has won numerous awards.
Established in Rotterdam, with offices in San Francisco, London, Argentina, Brazil & India, Nimbuzz employs more than 100 people.
The company pioneered mobile Internet technology to redefine the way people communicate, combining benefits of traditional telecommunication services with a range of real-time communications and social networking features.
At the heart of Nimbuzz is its live Contact list – an always-on, hyper-connected and continuously changing dynamic address book, showing at a glance who’s online, offline, busy or away, their status messages, avatar pictures and social community activity.
Social networks & communities supported by Nimbuzz include Skype®, Facebook®, MSN® Messenger, GoogleTalkTM, Twitter, Yahoo!TM, AIM®, MySpace, ICQ®, GaduGadu, Hyves, Studi VZ, Giovani and others.
Tobias Kemper
Tobias Kemper, Vice President at Nimbuzz USA here in Silicon Valley, is responsible for marketing, communications and business development.
Previously, Tobias managed global communications and social media development for the company.
Before joining the social networking company, Tobias handled marketing strategy and brand consulting for brands such as Palm, Discovery Networks, Conde Nast, Gillette, Dwell and Timbuk2 .
He has a Marketing degree from the University of San Francisco and has represented Nimbuzz as a speaker at various events, panels and industry round tables.
Tobias says his early involvement in the mobile industry comes from his love for mobile phones, blogging about gadgets, trends and emerging technologies, launching the Palm Treo 750, and running a workshop for Palm at the TED conference.
Originally from Germany, Tobias studied and has worked in the UK, USA, Germany, and The Netherlands.
In the podcast, Tobias talks about the service, several strategies the company is exploring to monetize their free service, relationships with wireless carriers and social media companies, new services under consideration and maintaining strong relationships with its members.
Of particular interest is the growth in female members. (18-35 year old males currently dominate the service.)
Tobias strongly believes that location-based mobile applications on smartphones keeping users in touch with their friends is one of the strongest continuing trends.
How does an “always on” communications channel affect your life and the lives of your users? Should we always be connected? Yes and no, says Tobias, who believes that individuals are responsible for deciding to go off-line as they choose.
In this behind-the scenes podcast, Tobias talks about his fast-growing social interaction service that’s drawing 1.2M new members each month.
Links:
Email info@nimbuzz.com
Tobias Kemper LinkedIn Profile
(MobileBeyond is also available on your mobile handset at:
http://MobileBeyond.mobi and on iTunes.)
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