O2 subsidiary officially launches with community of 6000 members

Our super podcaster Andy is probably the sole reason for Giffgaff’s continuing sucess but have a read at this little article from Mobiletoday:

People-powered MVNO Giffgaff has officially launched after a six months test run in beta which saw its customer base grow to 3000.

The launch coincides with Giffgaff’s first advertising campaign which the MVNO says has already seen sim sales soar this week and prompted a record number of vistors to its website.

During its test phase in beta which began last November Giffgaff, which is modeled on Wikipedia, has built a 6000 strong community which plays a key role in shaping Giffgaff’s offerings.

The O2 subsidiary, which was inspired by Wikipedia, encourages customers to get involved in the giffgaff  community and rewarded for every contribution they make.This can include helping other members with queries, voicing opinions about how Giffgaff should be run or recommending Giffgaff to friends.

Points are later exchanged for cash or a donation to a charity of the community’s choice. The average payback since February is £12 with the most active customer earning £700.

Mike Fairman, Giffgaff CEO, said: ‘Giffgaff is a genuine alternative to the big networks.  Since our test phase began in September 2009, we have created a strong community of 6000 who have been running giffgaff and shaping it into what they want.  We don’t have huge call centres and retail shops to run, which means we can keep costs low while making our members feel part of the brand.’

Giffgaff founder Gav Thompson who developed the idea of Giffgaff after attending a Web 2.0 event in Silicon Valley, said:  ‘In my opinion, the power of the community can now run the best encyclopaedia service on the planet and be the motivating force behind a successful presidential election campaign. So, for a significant minority of people who aren’t turned on by big companies and big brands, we are of the opinion that Giffgaff can harness the power of the community to run a simpler mobile network where people get rewarded for helping out.’

In keeping with its anti-corporate stance the Giffgaff ad campaign – which runs to the end of June in newspapers and billboards in major UK cities and online -  features ‘The Man’, as a symbol of corporate greed.