Buongiorno My Alert

[pic 1]

BuongiornoMyAlert Case

1. Is MyAlert a good business idea? Why? Which is the competitive advantage of MyAlert when it is launched?

The are several reasons why MyAlert is a very good business idea. In fact it is the first company who propose segmented alerts via text messages and emails, related to various themes such as stock quotes, top headlines, soccer match scores etc, in a specific time when there is growth in GSM adoption. The alerts had already worked on internet and as there was a mobile boom in Europe there was no reason why it wouldn't work in this market.

These services are proposed to end users but also to companies as Addeco, which uses this service to deliver their employees offer alerts in real time. In fact, MyAlerts uses these text alerts in innovative ways and this allows it to propose very high quality services to corporate customers. The high value added services proposed by the company have high potential and the company succedded in creating a need.

Also, the alerts via text messages and emails is a new market so the company can become the leader very quickly and easily especially when they have a good strategy from the beginning which will allow them to put barriers to new competitors. This is a real competitive advantage.

What makes this business a very good idea is the fact that Jorge Mata knew what he was talking about and his professional experience was a real asset to the succes of this business.

The company had a good management team, very good ingeneers, a very powerfull platform (MAGO,which could allow creating and sending every type of highly personalized alerts to end users, through different channels (SMS, e-mail), through direct links with  the telecom operators) so it had all it was needed to produce a high quality service and be very competitive.

Another competitive advantage of the company after it's launching was the fact that it extended their services to all European major markets, as France, Italy, Germany or The United Kingdom. This allowed them to gain a regional recognition and extend client portfolio. Their portal user base started growing very significantly very quickly and trafic levels progressed in hand with product development. A demand has been created.

The company also becomes international in the development of its product and takes a stake in companies in other countries in orter to diversify its R&D and prevent risks.

2. How the competitive advantage and business model evolves? Why? Is it sustainable?

At the biginning this business was based on volume, offering to its customers a number of marketing impacts through different channels, however enriched by in depth market discrimination tools and detailed tracking data.

Then company goes international, it diversifies its ressources (Nomura, Brokat, 3i, Partech) and products (develops new lines of business in different steps along the industry value chain), invests in companies with complementary skills in Bulgaria and Finlandia.