Dear Shareholders,
As August comes to a close, we now find ourselves entering phase two of our journey of a million miles. As PhoneGuard’s Drive Safe™ application continues to receive strong national publicity, our efforts are moving into the monetization stage of the application. The major traction we’ve seen since the launch of the free application now presents innumerable opportunities for the paid application launch.
We have met the first of many milestones within our four distribution channels this month as we enter into the monetization phase, with a broader web interface providing two levels of the Drive Safe™ paid application. In the beginning of October, we will launch the Drive Safe™ Pro application suite for BlackBerry and Android phones, where existing free application users will be given the option to upgrade to a $4.99 package and a $19.99 package.
PhoneGuard's Drive Safe™ FREE: $0.00
Provides consumer with the primary functions to prevent texting while driving.
Advertising supported.
PhoneGuard’s Drive Safe™ Standard: $4.99/one time
More robust set of core functions administered through user’s phone. Product geared toward the safety of new drivers, allowing guardians to keep a watchful eye on the new driver. Core functions include: Admin Phone (default off), Panic Button, Speed Control Log (SMS default off), Customizable Auto Reply (default off), Times Lock Out (default off) and Request Permission to override admin.
No advertising.
PhoneGuard’s Drive Safe™ Pro: $19.99/year
Full version of the software including the on-phone functionality and online web suite allowing third-party administrator monitoring (parent, business or enterprise).
Optional version- celebrity-endorsed granting purchaser access to an online “backstage” area to bieberfever.com, the official Justin Bieber fan club. The purchaser will enjoy a free three-month membership valued at $36.95, with access to exclusive videos, photos, Bieber Fever games, contests with exclusive prizes, a Bieber Fever members community, chances to meet Justin plus first access to concert tickets.
Premium Billing Model:
We will launch a premium billing product to allow people to buy through their mobile billing carrier platform. We’ll be announcing details in conjunction with the first of October launch. This model will provide additional cash flow for the company.
We will also launch a "Text Justin" - Safe Driving and Lifestyle Tips offered via a mobile billing carrier platform.
PhoneGuard’s Drive Safe™ Enterprise:
PhoneGuard introduces customizable solutions to enterprise clients who have fleets of drivers and individual needs.
The product is also offered as a white label based on each enterprise need such as our newest partnership with Aon.
Third Party Paid Advertising Revenue
We are structuring an advertising revenue stream and are in negotiations with potential partners.
PhoneGuard continues its commitment to The Remember Alex Brown Foundation and is dedicated to giving back to the responsible texting cause. As a result, a portion of the proceeds from PhoneGuard’s Drive Safe™ application sales will go directly to the The Remember Alex Brown Foundation.
Other News
We have expanded the PhoneGuard family and welcomed Jeffrey A. Yesner to the PhoneGuard family as Chief Financial Officer and PureGrowth as our brand management partner. An accomplished financial executive with both strong technical, operational and executive level accounting experience, Mr. Yesner will be responsible for corporate-wide financial management as PhoneGuard moves into its monetization phase beginning in early October. PureGrowth will work closely with our public relations and social media firm The Zimmerman Agency to continue building a solid brand platform and strengthen awareness in the market.
PhoneGuard is also thrilled to announce that the Drive Safe™ application has completed its final stage of approval by Apple and is available to all iPhone users in the iPhone application store and at www.PhoneGuard.com. PhoneGuard will continue to spread its message through a second phase of Justin Bieber videos. Justin Bieber filmed four campaign videos this past Labor Day weekend that will highlight upcoming promotions and public service announcements surrounding responsible texting. We look forward to more filming opportunities to leverage our relationship with Justin Bieber.
In addition, PhoneGuard’s Drive Safe™ application has gone through a brand refresh, specifically the application interface. This refresh will be applied to the application in the upcoming weeks.
There has obviously been a tremendous response and awareness from the past several months, which has led to a solid platform the company can use to monetize through business channels including social media/public relations, enterprise, retail and affiliates. To continue to reinforce the success of this journey, I’d like to share with you some of the highlights:
Public Relations
PhoneGuard has continued its publicity efforts and messaging on a national platform, securing a four-minute segment on NBC’s The Today Show, in addition to broadcast segments on ABC Miami, NBC Minneapolis, CBS West Palm Beach and WWL-AM New Orleans multi-state radio news. PhoneGuard reached more than 8 million broadcast viewers within a two-week period and nearly 18 million broadcast viewers since the July 19 campaign launch. PhoneGuard also garnered extensive editorial coverage this month including CNBC.com, Today.com, Newsday, FoxNews.com, MoneyWatch.com and of course, two reviews within one week in the New York Times. Since the July 19 campaign launch, PhoneGuard has reached more than 320 million unique online visitors and print readers. To view the PhoneGuard publicity click here.
Social
PhoneGuard has continued to focus its social efforts on generating brand awareness and creating online visibility to get maximum impressions and maintain viral buzz surrounding the Text Responsibly campaign. Social strategies included posting Justin Bieber-related publicity to social channels to help promote his partnership with PhoneGuard and address the issue of texting and driving.
A strong focus for social posts is also placed on driving traffic to the PhoneGuard Web site. This has resulted in 7% of social traffic converting to downloads of the product, which is 600% better than traditional traffic (assuming a 1% conversion rate on average). PhoneGuard’s aggressive social media presence has garnered more than 410,000 post views and another 6,000 new Facebook likes. Engagement among our social media channels continues to build relationships with our followers.
Enterprise
For a small company in the pre-revenue stage, we have built an amazing platform of interest and awareness for responsible texting and PhoneGuard’s Drive Safe™ application. This heightened awareness has opened the doors to new business including a new affiliate contract with Aon, the largest risk manager in the world, distributing services to 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
Retail
For PhoneGuard’s retail channel, we have secured contracts with premium billing carriers and online stores including Ralphs (a division of Kroger), Fry's Electronics, CompUSA/TigerDirect and e-commerce partner Buy.com. PhoneGuard products are being incorporated into their respective merchandise assortment.
Affiliate
PhoneGuard has made significant progress with the affiliate community and has signed our first contract with The Veratis Group. The Veratis Group offers several dynamic mobile products surrounding mobile insurance and works directly with some of the largest financial institutions in the country, reaching more than 30 million customers. The Veratis Group plans to bundle PhoneGuard's Drive Safe™ Standard Version with their other product offerings and then up-sell to the Pro version.
I have been invited to sit on an expert panel October 17, 2011 at the National Summit on Teen Distracted Driving, in partnership with Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood and the U.S. Department of Transportation Distracted Driving Summits. Sponsored by AT&T and Allstate, the panel will discuss the issues surrounding texting and driving and PhoneGuard will present the Drive Safe™ application as a solution. I feel privileged for the invitation to sit on the panel and feel this is another testament to PhoneGuard's national growth and awareness for responsible texting. At the summit, Justin Bieber will also highlight his involvement with PhoneGuard through a special video.
PhoneGuard will showcase the Drive Safe™ products at the CTIA Enterprise and Application Show in San Diego, California, in October. CTIA is the leading show for the wireless industry, offering a platform for product launches in addition to consumer and enterprise wireless marketplace education.
For more Drive Safe™ information and PhoneGuard updates, visit the Options Media Group website at www.optionsmedia.com.
As we reference back to the old Chinese proverb, sometimes a million miles can seem like an endless journey. We’ve met and surpassed many milestones this month and we look forward to continuing our monetization efforts.
Thank you for your support,
Keith St. Clair
Chairman of the Board
Options Media Group and PhoneGuard, Inc. |
