News & Press

Archive for 2005

mobileStorm Enters Fiscal 2006 Year with Record Revenues and New Clients

Tuesday, November 1st, 2005

Continues Explosive Growth and Launches New Premium Services While Acquiring Key New Clients

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 1st, 2005 - mobileStorm Inc., a leading provider of digital messaging solutions, today announced that its first fiscal quarter for 2006 continued the company’s growth trend while expanding the scope of its client base. mobileStorm reported a 150% increase in revenues from the same period last year and a 32% increase from the last quarter. The company also launched its first premium service and new detailed reporting features.

“These fiscal results show that the Stun! platform is becoming the preferred option for companies that want to go beyond just sending emails,” said Jared Reitzin, chief executive officer of mobileStorm. “We have solidified our position in key market segments as well as gained significant clients in new sectors that are beginning to realize the benefits of using Stun! versus more traditional email service providers”

Key New Clients

mobileStorm gained a total of 175 new clients for the quarter from a variety of sectors, including some of the largest category leaders in their respective industries such as:

• Franchises - Carl Karcher Enterprises (Carl’s Jr/Hardee’s)
• Nightclubs - Crobar, MGM Grand (Studio 54, Tabu, Teatro)
• Event Promotions - SMAC Entertainment New York
• Museums - Pasadena Museum of California Art

“Crobar needed a solution that would allow us to have more direct control over our digital messaging campaigns,” said Rob Vinokur, VP of Marketing for Crobar. “Stun! gives us the ability to manage all of our campaigns within a single system in order to keep our growing customer base up to date with our exciting events at each of our clubs in the ways they wish to be reached. We look forward to working with mobileStorm as we expand into new markets and continue to push our cutting-edge marketing in exciting new directions.”

New Premium Service and Enhanced Reporting

RSVP Manager

The Stun! RSVP Manager is the first offering of Stun’s new Premium Services. For a small monthly charge, clients can now incorporate RSVP forms and invitations into their message campaigns. The service features:

Event Management

• Create an event, set the number of RSVPs allowed and send out to a particular list within a matter of moments
• Print out a copy of the RSVP list or even export it to a master list to streamline the entry process

Customization

• Direct people to a link to RSVP on your site or incorporate the RSVP in an email campaign
• Customize your RSVP invitation, copy and even the auto response email to best match the spirit of the event.

Event Analysis

• Add other information to the form, such as gender, birthdate and zip code, to get a better sense of your invitees
• Find out if they are already subscribers to your list or not, and offer those who aren’t to sign up for your list to learn about future events.

Detailed Reporting

Stun! now features new detailed campaign reporting. Specific enhancements include:

• The email addresses of those who opened/replied or even complained about a particular campaign
• Detailed bounce reports, including the addresses and the reason why they bounced
• Find out not only how many people click on a particular link but who they were and which links they viewed.
• View viral marketing progress by seeing how many people forwarded the message to a friend

For more information go to www.mobilestorm.com. Pricing is based on total messages sent per month with a variety of options available.

About mobileStorm

mobileStorm Inc.™, based in Southern California , provides enterprise-class messaging solutions and marketing automation tools for businesses. The company’s “Multi-Digital Messaging” services help its clients drive profits by reaching, retaining, and responding to customers in the ways they wish to be reached. mobileStorm delivers millions of messages a month and has amassed a roster of highly visible clients such as Qantas Airways, MGM Grand, Universal/Interscope Records, Carl’s Jr., Squaw Valley Ski Resort, and Crobar Nightclubs.

Media Contact:

Steve Chipman
COO, mobileStorm
steve@mobilestorm.com
323-785-6324

mobileStorm Ends Fiscal Year with Record Revenues

Monday, August 1st, 2005

Continues to Expand Reach in Messaging Industry Through Customer Acquisitions and New Partnerships

LOS ANGELES, CA, August 1st, 2005 - mobileStorm Inc., a leading provider of digital messaging solutions, today announced that it had closed out its fiscal year 2005 with record revenues. mobileStorm doubled its revenue from fiscal 2004 and reported a 73% increase in sales from the previous quarter. The company also established a strategic partnership with its main hosting provider and implemented a new managed services option for its clients.

“The fact that we are continuing to experience growth proves that mobileStorm is gaining ground in a very competitive marketplace,” said Jared Reitzin, chief executive officer of mobileStorm. “Now that our Stun! platform is gaining wider acceptance, we will continue to strive to be the best multi-digital messaging platform in the market by offering innovative features and services to our clients.”

New Industry Sectors

mobileStorm gained a total of 150 new clients for the quarter, from a variety of sectors, including the fast food industry, retail, trade, magazines, amongst others. In addition, mobileStorm continued to expand its reseller program to help extend its reach into other industry sectors.

Expanded Partnership with ZeroLag

mobileStorm has expanded its relationship with leading hosting provider ZeroLag Communications, Inc, for all of the company’s managed infrastructure and data hosting needs as well as signed on ZeroLag as a platinum reseller. “ZeroLag has been involved with mobileStorm since its inception” said Greg Strelzoff, chief executive officer, of ZeroLag. “mobileStorm is a natural fit with our state-of-the-art managed hosting services, and we are very excited to be expanding our partnership with the company to provide both of our customer bases with enhanced services, from messaging to large scale managed hosting requirements.”

Managed Services Package

In order to accommodate clients that don’t have the staff to handle their digital messaging requirements, mobileStorm has created a new managed services package. The package includes initial set up (including creating forms, lists and targets) as well as ongoing maintenance/management of their Stun! account. Cost is determined on size of account and specific client requirements.

For more information go to www.mobilestorm.com. Pricing is based on total messages sent per month with a variety of options available.

About mobileStorm

mobileStorm Inc.™, based in Southern California , provides enterprise-class messaging solutions and marketing automation tools for businesses. The company’s “Multi-Digital Messaging” services help its clients drive profits by reaching, retaining, and responding to customers in the ways they wish to be reached. mobileStorm delivers millions of messages a month and has amassed a roster of highly visible clients such as Quantas Airlines, Universal/Interscope Records, Island Def Jam, Squaw Valley Ski Resort, and ICE Nightclub.

Media Contact:

Steve Chipman
COO, mobileStorm
steve@mobilestorm.com
323-785-6324

mobileStorm Continues to Expand Reach and Revenue

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005

Maintains Double Digit Increases in Sales for the Quarter and Acquires Key New Clients

LOS ANGELES, CA, May 3rd, 2005 - mobileStorm Inc., a leading provider of digital messaging solutions, today continued its recent growth trend by announcing that it had a 22% increase in sales from the previous quarter and a 65% increase from the same quarter a year ago. In addition, the company signed contracts with important new customers and rolled out key new upgrades to its core platform, Stun!

The company also launched a new division called Delivery Service Bureau to help clients better manage and achieve their digital messaging goals. mobileStorm officially launched its reseller program as well.

“The results of this quarter prove that mobileStorm is quickly becoming a leader in our industry,” said Jared Reitzin, chief executive officer of mobileStorm. “By rolling out a major upgrade of our core platform while at the same time continuing to increase our client base, mobileStorm is poised to capture an even greater market share moving forward.”

Expanded Client Base

mobileStorm gained a total of 130 new clients for the quarter from a variety of sectors, including:

Airlines - Qantas North America
Lobbying Organizations - American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
Restaurants - Ark Restaurant Group/VIVID the Club (The Venetian), The Light Group (The Belagio Hotel & Casino), Sharkeez
Trade Publications/Organizations - Las Vegas Food & Beverage/Eye On Vegas, Digital Coast Roundtable
Record Labels - Om Records

Qantas North America’s database marketing needs had outgrown their systems. “With the growth in interest in traveling to Australia and New Zealand , we needed a more dynamic and robust system,” said Suzanne Hornwood, E-Commerce Marketing Manager at Qantas Airways. “Now we can deploy urgent and scheduled emails and set the pace in our fast moving fare sale marketplace.”

New Resellers

mobileStorm officially launched its Stun! Reseller Program to help gain entry into new areas for the company, such as the retail industry. One key reseller, Spacedog, has already brought on several of their top clients, including Qantas Airways. “As an interactive marketing company we are always looking for new ways to provide enhanced services to our clients,” said Seth Engelhard of Spacedog. “With Stun!, we can help our clients send highly targeted digital messaging campaigns to their customers to increase brand awareness and drive revenue.”

Product Enhancements

mobileStorm continued to offer new Stun! features over the course of the quarter. Key upgrades included:

Confirm (Double Opt-In) Subscribers - Allows customers to send a message to either a portion of or thei r complete database asking the users to confirm their subscriptions.
Do Not Mail List - Add email addresses, landline, cell phone and fax machine numbers that will be permanently blocked from receiving any future messages.
Enhanced Template Editor - Adds more features to incorporate into email messages, such as the ability to add frames/tables, view the HTML coding of the message, plain text option (for those subscribers that cannot receive HTML emails) and Undo/Redo option to correct mistakes.
Image Library - Enables customers to store common images, such as logos, pictures or graphics that need to be accessed for multiple mailings.
Delivery Service Bureau - A new services package that enables clients toimprove their overall deliverability through such features as HTML testing, monitoring inbox delivery, blacklist alerts and list hygiene.

For more information go to www.mobilestorm.com. Pricing is based on total messages sent per month with a variety of options available.

About mobileStorm

mobileStorm Inc.™, based in Southern California , provides enterprise-class messaging solutions and marketing automation tools for businesses. The company’s “Multi-Digital Messaging” services help its clients drive profits by reaching, retaining, and responding to customers in the ways they wish to be reached. mobileStorm delivers millions of messages a month and has amassed a roster of highly visible clients such as Universal/Interscope Records, Quantas North America, AIPAC, Island Def Jam, Squaw Valley Ski Resort, Travelworm and ICE Nightclub.

Media Contact:

Steve Chipman
COO, mobileStorm
steve@mobilestorm.com
323-785-6324

mobileStorm Releases Enhanced Offerings for Stun! Customers

Tuesday, April 12th, 2005

04/12/05 - mobileStorm today released the first upgrade of its new core platform, Stun! as well as new training/consulting packages. The new build, Stun! 2.05 addresses several important new features that will help current and potential customers gain even more control of their digital messaging strategies. Key features include the following:

Confirm (Double Opt-In) Subscribers - A key component of maintaining maximum deliverability and integrity of your database is to ensure that your subscribers have requested to receive your messages. This can now be easily achieved with Stun’s Confirm Subscribers process, which allows customers to send a message to either a portion of or their complete database asking the users to confirm their subscriptions. Those that do are automatically added to the database. Those that do not are given one more chance to do so and if they do not respond to either message, are dropped from the database. The end result is a streamlined database that can yield a much higher response rate and protect customers from being labeled as a spammer.

Do Not Mail List - Being a responsible digital marketer requires you to be vigilant in making sure anyone who no longer wishes to receive your messages is removed as quickly as possible. However, when your list is in the tens of thousands, it can be hard to make sure such requests are honored. Stun! 2.05 adds a new tool to help do this via the Do Not Mail List. This feature allows you to add email addresses, landline, cell phone and fax machine numbers that will be permanently blocked from receiving any future messages. It can be used not only for users that have complained about receiving your messages but also to block competitors from adding their addresses to your lists as well.

Enhanced Template Editor - Stun! 2.05 features an entirely new, enhanced template editor to give you even more features when creating a message in the system. Now you have the ability to create more complex messages from scratch (including inserting Flash and media objects) as well as using our existing templates. Other changes include the ability to add frames/tables, view the HTML coding of the message, plain text option (for those subscribers that cannot receive HTML emails) and Undo/Redo option to correct mistakes.

Image Library - Stun! 2.05 now gives each client 2 Megabytes of data storage in an image library, which can be accessed as part of the new Template Editor. The library enables customers to store common images, such as logos, pictures or graphics that need to be access for multiple mailings. Additional storage space can be included for an additional fee.

New Support Package

In addition to the new features listed above, mobileStorm is also offering a new support package for new clients or existing clients that need some additional support/training. This package includes:

• 1 hour training with a mobileStorm support representative to walk though the main components of the system, including:
• Setting up a list(s)
• Uploading a database
• Creating a Confirmed Subscriber campaign
• Establishing autoresponders, user roles, personalization and targets
• Dedicated email support for any ongoing issues/questions

Delivery Service Bureau

Reaching and maintaining the maximum number of subscribers in your email marketing campaigns is often not an easy process. With so many variables out there that affect your overall delivery, it can be very difficult to achieve your email marketing goals. It is with this in mind that mobileStorm has created a new services division called the Delivery Service Bureau. Our specific services include the following:

HTML Testing - Make sure your HTML is compliant with major ISP standards

Message Checker - I mmediately identifies the elements most likely to trigger the filters, such as content, coding (like HTML listed in the previous section) and even the colors used in the campaign.

Mailbox Monitor - Takes a snapshot of 24 of the top email providers and provides you with specific deliverability per ISP. For each campaign chosen, find out if the message was rejected outright, received in the inbox or relegated to the bulk/junk folder.

Blacklist Alert - Helps prevent clients from landing on anti-spam organizations’ known spammers list, also called a blacklist. Monitors client’s email box and sends warnings when domain is placed on one of the lists.

List Hygiene - Prevents clients from repeatedly sending too many bad, invalid or expired addresses, which can cause ISPs to block messages. Eliminates such addresses and help correct any that could be valid (such as typos, incomplete domains and new/changed domains)

For more information about any of these new features or to sign up for the new support package please email sales@mobilestorm.com and a sales representative will get back to you shortly.

For more information or to sign up for the service go here

About mobileStorm

mobileStorm Inc.™, founded in October of 1999 and based in Southern California, provides enterprise-class messaging solutions and marketing automation tools for businesses. The company’s “Multi-Digital Messaging” services help its clients drive profits by reaching, retaining, and responding to customers in the ways they wish to be reached. mobileStorm delivers millions of messages a month and has amassed a roster of highly visible clients such as Universal/Interscope Records, Island Def Jam, Squaw Valley Ski Resort, Travelworm and Wantickets.com.

For press inquiries contact:

Steve Chipman
COO, mobileStorm
steve@mobilestorm.com
323-785-6324

mobileStorm Announces Major Upgrade to its Stun! Messaging Service

Monday, February 28th, 2005

Launches First System to Combine Email, SMS, Voice and Fax Messaging in Single Platform

LAS VEGAS , NV , February 28 th , 2005 - mobileStorm Inc., a leading provider of permission-based messaging solutions, today at The Bar & Nightclub Show unveiled a major upgrade to its core platform, Stun!. The new system, called Stun! 2.0, is the first platform of its kind to integrate the most common forms of business communication (email, voice, text messaging and fax) into one easy-to-use interface.

Stun! 2.0 builds on the successful foundation of mobileStorm’s messaging services and provides clients with a much more robust solution to power all of their messaging needs. With Stun! 2.0, a client can send email, text, voice and fax messages via a consolidated system and for a very cost-effective price. Stun! 2.0 allows companies to contact their customers and prospects the ways they wish to be reached.

Major new features include the following:

Ease-to-Use Client Control Panel

• Multiple user roles, can be broken out by brand or position in company
• Innovative Quick Help feature - instructions are displayed on the screen without needing to pull up separate Help file
• Test accounts for all messaging forms
• Additional messaging types can be upgraded directly from the Control Panel

Subscriber Management Tools

• Automated unsubscribe and abuse removal process
• Permanent Removal List to minimize spam complaints
• Batch unsubscribe tool
• Automatic bounce removal and categorization based on bounce type (hard, soft, spam, unknown) for all message types
• Validation of subscribers via Double Opt-in process

Campaign Creation

• Options to use own HTML or choose from a variety of professionally designed email templates
• Multi-parting of messages to ensure maximum reach of subscribers
• Personalization of creative (First Name, Last Name, City, Birthdate, etc)
• HTML/campaign design services available
• Built-in viral marketing option

Campaign Management

• No restrictions on database size or frequency of delivery
• Automated and recurring scheduling options for all time zones
• Spam score checker to help minimize potential blocks due to spam filters
• Segmentation of database based on targets

Campaign Analysis

• Real-time reports for overall performance: list-based or client-based
• Detailed reports on demographic and psychographic data
• Click tracking and open rate statistics
• Exporting option to add reports into marketing presentations/analysis

“Stun! 2.0 represents the culmination of our five years in the industry,” said Jared Reitzin, chief executive officer of mobileStorm. “We’ve been in business long enough to know what our clients and potential new clients are looking for in a messaging platform and Stun! 2.0 is the ideal solution. Now companies can go to a single source for all of their messaging needs and help increase their revenue while decreasing their marketing costs.”

“With this new platform, we let our customers be in more direct control of their messaging strategy while at the same time shielding them from the more undesirable aspects, such as spam filtering, abuse removal and delivery issues,” added Steve Chipman, chief operating officer of mobileStorm. “Stun! 2.0 allows our clients to focus on communicating to their customers and prospects, not on the technology required to do this.”

Stun! 2.0 is available now. Pricing is based on total messages sent per month with a variety of options, and custom plans are available as well.

For more information or to sign up for the service go to www.mobilestorm.com .

About mobileStorm

mobileStorm Inc.™, founded in October of 1999 and based in Southern California, provides enterprise-class messaging solutions and marketing automation tools for businesses. The company’s “Multi-Digital Messaging” services help its clients drive profits by reaching, retaining, and responding to customers in the ways they wish to be reached. mobileStorm delivers millions of messages a month and has amassed a roster of highly visible clients such as Universal/Interscope Records, Island Def Jam, Squaw Valley Ski Resort, Travelworm and Wantickets.com.

For press inquiries contact:

Steve Chipman
COO, mobileStorm
steve@mobilestorm.com
323-785-6324

  • TRUSTe Privacy Standards
  • Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group
  • HACKER SAFE
  • Better Business Bureau
  • Direct Marketing Association