Brand-sponsored content aggregation site SafeZone.ph, is now the most visited local mobile community site in the Philippines, according to data released by Effective Measure, the leading provider of digital audience, brand and advertising effectiveness measurement, and targeting solution.
SafeZone.ph drew in 17.8 million page views from August 1 to August 31, and counts over 1.5 million active users of the platform. The digital platform run by Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations unit of PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), enables consumers to taste the free side of the Internet because sponsoring brands are the ones paying for data access.
These milestones are particularly significant, as the regional director of Effective Measure, Maria Rodriguez Java, noted.
“Safezone.ph’s offer of free online content as the daily springboard into the rest of mobile Filipinos’ online experience caters very strongly to millennials. They get their content round up, consuming 3-4 pages per visit and return to the site to catch up on news and trending content at least 4 times a month, both of which are well over the average mobile content consumption behavior in the country. What is interesting is that 67% of Safezone’s readership is outside of Metro Manila. It is effectively democratizing mobile content, by providing an easy, memorable experience for consumers in the rest of the country,” she said.
“Reaching this milestone is very encouraging. It’s an intrinsic need for Filipinos to be in the know and participate in their digital communities. SafeZone provides them with the first step towards this experience. We are bringing more exciting content partnerships in the coming months, and and we see the growth of SafeZone usage to accelerate much faster than the growth of smart phone penetration,” said Benjie S. Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer at Voyager Innovations.
Launched last February, SafeZone gives consumers free data access to sites of leading lifestyle brands in news, shopping, travel, banking and entertainment, on top of social sites like the Lite versions of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For enterprises, SafeZone gives them a platform to digitally connect directly to their customers. The platform is one of the top finalists under the Mobile Pricing Innovation category of the Telecoms.com Awards 2015 which will be held in London this coming November.
Not stopping at the top
Being the top mobile content aggregator is significant because SafeZone provides free data access to Filipinos to a variety of mobile apps and websites, enabling them to thrive in their digital communities.
“We celebrate these milestones deeply because we have always kept the end-user in mind. We are focusing on what this service would mean to millions of Filipinos across the country—to enable them to enjoy the digital life by giving them free access to the best brands and sites from around the world,” said Heidi Garayblas, the Business Unit Head of SafeZone at Voyager Innovations.
Aside from social sites, SafeZone provides users with access to news sites like The Philippine Star and The Inquirer, eCommerce platforms like Takatack, Zalora and Shopee, booking and transaction sites like Philippine Airlines, FoodPanda and BPI, music platform Spinnr, gaming portal GameX, automobile buy and sell site Carmudi, rain alert site RainCheckPH, Facebook’s Free Basics (previously Internet.org) and Babble messaging service.
“Each of our categories improves the lives of Filipinos in a particular way. For example, with our Philippine Airlines, Filipinos can now book their flight entirely from their mobile phones, all for free. This may seem like a small feat, but it’s simple milestones like these that make the digital lives of Filipinos more convenient,” added Garayblas.
Broadening access to digital
SafeZone is fueled by Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations unit of PLDT and Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) which also has several other initiatives aimed at making the internet more accessible to Filipinos, including PowerApp and other service bundles that come with free internet.
Each of these initiatives addresses a particular market segment, as extending free internet to more Filipinos is not a singular challenge but one made of many component parts.
SafeZone is currently available to subscribers of Smart and Sun. The subscriber just needs to log in to www.safezone.ph and have a P1 maintaing load balance. Through a feature called Load Protect, consumers are ensured that they are safe from extra data charges.
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