Bsmrt on MXit

MXit (http://mxitlifestyle.com) and metaLAB (www.metalab.co.uk) are working together to deliver appropriate educational content and services to African Youth  via MXit’s mobile instant messaging channel (IM).

Bsmrt will always be free to the end user  - first across the whole of Africa, and then beyond.

Currently we are running a technical pilot (commenced mid October 2009). Hence, we have not undertaken any form of marketing or publicity - not even viral. Even so, at the last count, Bsmrt had been visited 360,000 times and served over 7 million pages. There is a hard core of 22,000 early adopters. Over 9,750 young people have completed the feedback questionnaire. Their observations and suggestions are very positive and constructive - we are taking the lessons on board as we continue to evolve the service.

Currently, the average user visits Bsmrt twice a week and spends around 11 minutes there.  We anticipate a massive increase in user numbers when Bsmrt is soft launched and we begin the viral marketing campaign. 

What is Bsmrt?

Bsmrt (pronounced ‘Be Smart’) is a new mobile service live on MXit. It is exclusively devoted to achieving large scale, systemic, social impact using education as the point of reference for stimulating sustainable livelihoods.

Bsmrt is a collaborative endeavour; we are working with leaders in the field to achieve this.

Bsmrt’s educational approach is rooted in the idea that young people have many of the inner resources to solve their own problems - but they need is access to information, skills, support and platforms through which to communicate.

The educational scope of Bsmrt presents content through user-friendly menu headings including smrtUp (curriculum content – literacy, numeracy etc), smrtLife (Life insights, personal well-being, health and development), smrtDreamz (Career related tools and vocational training), smrtWorld (environment and humanity), smrtArt (local arts and culture), smrtBiz (financial matters, micro- enterprise development and community businesses support) and more to come.

The Bsmrt architecture is continuously evolving and being shaped by the needs of the users and our content providers and partners.

There are a finite number of content elements available under each menu heading. Each single item is a Bsmrt Byte.

Each Byte is designed to work well on the MXit platform, whether it is a page of text, a video, a quiz, an image, or a sound. Bsmrt offers organisations the opportunity to add their own Bsmrt Bytes.

All educational content on Bsmrt must be aligned to our editorial policy and thereby undergoes mandatory testing and modifications - including quality assurance (QA) of an editorial and technical nature - to ensure that these core principles & values are embedded in Bsmrt:

Who is making Bsmrt happen?

MXit is an African based IM (Instant Messaging) mobile channel that already has over 12 Million African users, with a total of over 19 million worldwide – growing by 28,000 new users every day.

One reason for this rapid adoption by African Youth is the fact that MXit does not charge them for sending and receiving messages. Mobile operators, however, do charge MXit users fairly minimal GPRS/3G data costs that translate into the equivalent of 1 cent (ZAR) per message compared to normal SMS rates of 75 cents (ZAR). The average MXit user spends an hour a day using the platform.

metaLAB is MXit’s partner of choice to organise the delivery of appropriate content for African Youth, via Bsmrt. We are 'for profit' social entrepreneurs prepared to risk our own resources - time, money and know-how - in order to develop replicable, sustainable, user driven; multi-stakeholder initiatives that seek to address the needs of the poor and the vulnerable in systemic ways.

• Youth centric
• Fun and engaging
• Ethical and safe
• Rights-based
• Encouraging individual responsibility
• Service-orientated
• Empowering
• Focus on handling Life Events Tasks
• Grounded in reality
• Outcomes-based
• Rooted in sound research

What can Bsmrt offer me?

It all begins with taking a first Byte!

A Bsmrt Byte can be as simple as a static byte (a page of text or images) a dynamic byte (a quiz, survey, text based game) or a downloadable byte (a video clip, a sound byte, a wallpaper etc).

As a content provider:

Bsmrt Bytes is a quick, simple, fast and low risk entry point if you are new to Bsmrt, new to MXit or have limited time, content or budget. Choose one or more Bsmrt Bytes (list available on request eg. financial literacy, healthy eating, conservation, algebra etc) and run your Bsmrt Byte on MXit.

We can help you to adapt, format - and develop where necessary - content for this powerful channel to reach millions. Once tried and tested and you have a sense of the potential impact that could be achieved by doing more, you can consider the benefits of our other Bsmrt initiatives.

As a sponsor:

Bsmrt is also providing the opportunity for corporate sponsors and funders to be associated with this cutting edge educational initiative and receive significant brand visibility by sponsoring a Bsmrt Byte. Choose to have an impact in a subject area relevant to you (eg. literacy, entrepreneurship, health and more).

Bsmrt can then source, develop and tailor the content to meet educational outcomes that you consider important and reflect your values. The Bsmrt partners focus is on providing more & more meaningful ways for you to use Bsmrt on MXit.

Why work with Bsmrt?

• Be one of the first to launch educational content on mobile across Africa - demystify MXit
• Attract new customers, beneficiaries and communities – push back the barriers to access
• Access 15 million youth in Africa with your content – growing fast
• Listen to the voices of millions of youth in Africa – using a highly interactive and agile channel
• Receive improved brand awareness in Africa – raise stakeholder awareness
• Be in the company of other leading organisations and have the opportunity to learn together
• Work with an initiative committed to social impact across Africa and understands development
• Be a part of something that is agile and constantly evolving

What does it cost to put a Byte on Bsmrt?

Please ask for our Bsmrt Bytes Rate Card, saying that you are new to Bsmrt.  We will then help you work out the cost of what you would like to do.

We want long-term partners; for us a Bsmrt Byte is just the start.

Contact the metaLAB Team

Michael Jenkins (Business Development)

+44 1273 400672

Michael.jenkins@metalab.co.uk

Katherine van Wyk (Creative & Content)

+27 72 248 0704

Katherine@morathomedia.com

Mike Puxley (Digital Media Manager)

Mike.puxley@metalab.co.uk