ZoneWize, my first company

What is Zonewize?

ZoneWize delivers a "plug and play" marketing solution for shopping malls and their retailers. The marketing solution makes excessive use of the mobile phones accessible amongst the younger generation also characterized as the "sms- generation".

As a shopping mall visitor with a mobile phone you are able to browse this week's best offers in pictures and text. The many offers are segmented by sex, age and product categories.

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How did we get the business idea?

In March 2005 a fellow student and I began working on an ambitious business idea. The idea was to enhance the benefits of tomorrow's mobile phones in relation to "mobile marketing". Before we knew it a very exciting 6 months had passed with many hours of research, concept development and market analysis. During this period our business idea won a total of 3 prices for best business idea, best marketing plan and best business plan. The prices were all won in Denmark at a national business competition held at Herning business school and sponsored by venture cup. After winning these prices and receiving positive responses on our business plan, we felt determined to realize the business idea.

How did we realize and found the business idea?

In order to realize our business idea we needed funding for development and marketing. After 3 months of communication and negotiation with business angels and venture capitalists, we succeeded in funding the business idea. Now it was time to begin developing the finished product/service and putting it to life in the real world.

The live test!

In September 2006 the company ZoneWize became a reality with real customers who agreed to test our new marketing solution. The customers were based in a large shopping mall "CITY2" plus 30 retailers situated inside the mall. The test was completed over the months from November 2006 through to January 2007.

The conclusion

We experienced a positive usage pattern in relation to the shopping mall visitors. Between 30-50 % of all registered users were frequently online with the service. Unfortunately, the test also proved that only 30 % of the mall visitors aged between 13-30 years possessed the required technical knowledge in order to go online with their mobile phone. This fact came as a surprise and sadly also meant that ZoneWize had marketed too early. As a result of that ZoneWize stopped all activities in order to rethink its strategy. Personally I chose to withdraw from the company in order to find new and different challenges.

Web design by Christian Duncan