A Huddersfield-based mobile communications specialist has secured a significant slice of the bulk SMS messaging market after being awarded the exclusive contract to deliver text alerts on behalf of national pizza delivery chain Papa John’s.
VOODOO will be responsible for delivering more than two million text messages per month to pizza lovers across the UK, using its powerful cloud-based messaging platform. The service was rolled out across Papa John’s UK-based outlets from September and provides customers with the chance to keep up-to-date with the latest special offers available within more than 400 local stores, with a number of additional new features introduced to improve customer service.
The Voodoo team were invited to take part in the competitive pitch process. After presenting their ideas, the team was short-listed in the tender process, culminating in a three-way pitch process with the Yorkshire-based tech specialist being awarded an initial two year contract.
According to recent industry research, 97% of mobile messages are opened within just four minutes of receipt. At the heart of VOODOO’s SMS technology is powerful analytical software that allows customer responses to be monitored in real time, enabling the effectiveness of marketing campaigns to be assessed and evaluated.
Despite being unable to visit their office during lockdown, the VOODOO team spent time working remotely - often until the early hours of the morning - to carefully develop and refine the unique platform. This ensured a seamless integration with Papa John’s powerful customer relationship management software, which is used to help predict and manage future pizza demand.
Gareth Davies, managing director, VOODOO said: “Papa Johns is a significant new business win, and one we are incredibly proud of, especially considering our business is still being affected by the national lockdown measures. Our work with Papa John’s shows how the use of mobile messaging within the marketing mix is evolving. Sending text messages to customers is a proven technique, but the impact of mobile campaigns is often overlooked, particularly if distribution of messaging is not accompanied with analytical data allowing performance and effectiveness to be measured.
“Our developers spent much of their time during lockdown tailoring our messaging platform to meet the specific needs of Papa John’s, and, at a time when takeaway services have been in high demand as many of us turn to them for a treat, the service will provide a practical way of communicating with customers: from simply telling them that their latest order is on its way, to helping them take advantage of the latest special offers.”
Alex van Steeden, senior eCRM and insights manager, Papa John’s UK comments “At Papa John’s, we have always placed an emphasis upon delivering excellent customer service. An important aspect of that work is helping our stores to communicate effectively. When we began reviewing the way in which we communicated with our customers via text, it was important for us to appoint a partner who could provide a service that was not only easy for our store managers to use, but flexible and intuitive.
“The standard of submissions we received during the tender process was incredibly high, but what set VOODOO aside from others was the combination of an easy-to-use, intuitive platform, which was underpinned by some incredibly powerful technology. The functionality and powerful analytical data delivered through the SMS delivery system will provide significant benefits to our business, enabling us to respond to customer needs and demands more effectively.”
Launched in 2013 following two years of research, development and planning, VOODOO enables businesses to manage their text messaging communications. The custom-built SMS delivery platform is used in a wide range of applications, including setting appointment reminders, receiving feedback for products or services, as well as integrating its capabilities with CRM systems - allowing the effectiveness of mobile marketing campaigns to be monitored. Voodoo SMS is the trading name of Bulk SMS Ltd.
