Social ICE (Interactive Community Engagement) provides independent themed social networks to brands, communities and organisations that want to generate value from their own community content and engagement, rather than allowing it to be commercialised by other social networks. In other words, we give community leaders the ability to build engage and have ownership of their own powerful independent social network.
Ever thought what it would be like to be the owner of a global social network?
Social ICE (Interactive Community Engagement) provides independent themed social networks to brands, communities and organisations that want to generate value from their own community content and engagement, rather than allowing it to be commercialised by other social networks.
In other words, we give community leaders the ability to build engage and have ownership of their own powerful independent social network. We can also deliver this as a downloadable App. in their branding that they can place and promote in the Apple Store and Google-Play markets for global visibility and rapid adoption.
We provide them with easy to use but hugely powerful promotional tools along with built in revenue generators which all work together automatically to promote, build and engage their membership whilst creating value and income.
We aim to deliver significant competitive advantage to all our customers.
Please visit our web site www.socialice.net for a full list of features and benefits.
So what real problem do we solve for our customers? : Most communities who utilise social networks are simply groups contained within large social network sites such as Facebook. A key problem for these communities is that they have no control over “who sees what” content; nor can they control who has access to their data-base of members. Most significantly, they have no direct means of capitalising on their community to generate revenue. – On the other hand, the social network to which the group belongs (such as Facebook) most certainly generates significant revenues as a result of serving adverts and “suggested content” to the community.
To make matters worse, some social networks allow less than 6% of the community to see content posted by community leaders! – Unless the community leader pays.
So who is really benefiting? Answer: the owner of the social network, NOT the community or the community leader.
Our Solution? : Give these communities their own social networks that they own, control and benefit from. Deliver them in their branding. Make them easy to use, useful, compelling and engaging; and show them how to exploit them to generate a huge range of benefits including growing their community and generating revenues.
Who are our Target customers? : Our target customers range from global brands, to communities and organisations that see the value in having full ownership of their network and community. We even have a package for small organisations and start-ups which have a passion, a theme or a focus.
Existing customers and customer pipeline include: Recognised global brands, sports clubs, training organisations, music artists, business groups, wine clubs, charities and other interest groups. – Regardless of size or area of focus, all have one thing in common; they want to have ownership and control of their own social network.
How do we find our customers? : We have a customer acquisition program that is successfully attracting both large and small customers directly. We also have a growing channel partner (reseller) program which is connecting us with an increasing new business pipeline. These two programs in combination are producing predictable customer acquisition and forecast revenues which strongly support our business plan.
How do we make money? : Our revenues are made up of a combination of fixed license fees, support fees, revenue share and / or per seat subscription fees.
A key point here is that our revenue streams are based on monthly recurring income from each customer and are based on a growth plan that includes a predictable increase in the number of customers along with increasing revenue per customer.
How we help our customers make money: Our customers’ revenues are driven by optional monthly subscription (for premium features and content), placement sponsorship and in-stream advertising; member to member services; and “smart” advertising using the “smart ICE” engine to target messages at specific sections of their community. There are also on site tools for our customers’ members to promote themselves and generate revenue.
Some of our achievements to date: We have achieved full proof of concept both for our technology and our commercial strategy. We have established that there is a need and a demand for Social ICE and have quantified the size, structure and scope of our target market. (See the market).
We have a growing number of customers under contract and a live engaged pipeline of new customers that range from recognised global brands to niche communities and small businesses.
We have good testimonials from existing customers and are gaining growing recognition from leading businesses within the digital marketing community.
Giving our customers the option of also having their social network available as a downloadable mobile app provides both them and us with low cost global reach and international revenue streams. We believe that this is a world first.
Why are we raising finance? : We are generating revenues today and have a proven model that supports our business plan. We now need to accelerate our customer engagement and increase our visibility across several areas of our target market. Funds will therefore be used to hire a small professional in house client development team along with product support, and to deliver an accelerated but tightly focused high impact client acquisition and channel marketing plan.
How big is our market and what are the key trends? : In our analysis of the global market for independent themed social networks we appraise that they are set to rise from 3% of all social networks (by value) in 2014, to 8% by 2017/18 and will reach $1.56 billion. Our analysis shows that it is forecast to be the fastest growth area within the sector over the next 5 years as advertisers and brands seek to target groups of consumers with known areas of common interest. It is this opportunity that Social ICE exploits.
3 Key Growth Drivers:
For many consumers the most convenient platform used to access the internet and connected apps is mobile. (Both phone and tablet). Even in countries and locations where available Wi-Fi resources are limited, the emergence of 3G and now 4G is allowing real-time connectivity and is facilitating a massive growth in social interaction and content consumption.
Communities, brands and organisations are rapidly waking up to the fact that their success is becoming increasingly dependent on social media to deliver relevant messages and hence influence their target consumers. On the other hand, consumers are becoming more and more selective about the type, and nature of content that they want to consume online and are exhibiting less and less tolerance towards “random” marketing / advertising messages that have little or no relevance to them as individuals.
This shift by consumers towards only wanting content that is relevant to them, combined with a realisation by communities, brands and organisations that in order to grow (or in some cases, survive), they must find a way of meeting these demands within the social media environment.
Advantage Social ICE: Our solution delivers the answer and meets the needs of both sides of this equation. We empower the community / brand / organisation by delivering them full ownership, rights access, control and security of their own social network. At the same time their consumers are able to join a focused social network, connect with other like-minded people and participate actively in a social environment that is relevant to them.
The key synergy in play is that both sides feel empowered and are engaged. – This engagement builds value for the community / brand / organisation and at the same time creates a positive “sticky” environment for the members who become increasingly engaged and united by a focused central theme.
Commercial and Social Convergence: From the perspective of our customers (the community / brand / organisation) their ultimate goal is to have specific knowledge of the habits behaviour and preferences of every individual they connect with. – If they could do this, they could develop a closer – two-way – relationship with these consumers resulting in increased message and content relevancy and hence a personal relationship with each.
Current trends in social media suggest that demand for this convergence is rising rapidly and is another factor contributing to the projected growth of our target market over the next few years.
Competitive Advantage: Social ICE is early to market with a disruptive product and service in a rapidly developing sector where competition today is fragmented and expensive. We do however recognise that we have a window of opportunity to take advantage of this positioning and are raising finance today to help accelerate our roadmap ahead of a probable trade sale in 2017/18.
How is Social ICE different? : Social ICE platforms are different because they:
We have an innovative solution that is meeting a growing market demand.
We have an experienced entrepreneurial management team that understands the market and has a good track record of creating high revenue growth and realisable investor value.
Steve Woods: CEO: Highly experienced CEO and technology entrepreneur who has successfully founded and grown several businesses and delivered international sales channels. Steve has proven expertise in sales and marketing and has a true passion for the science behind social networks and social media marketing. He is the commercial architect of Social ICE and its international channel programme and is focused on ensuring the company delivers the highest possible returns for all investors.
Phil Charette: CTO: A seasoned technical entrepreneur and software developer. Phil has focused the last few years on Social Ice and is responsible for the design and delivery of highly innovative social networking and social media software. Having previously worked for the US Air Force and Satcom, Phil is our software architect and head designer. He is passionate about delivering software and apps which give competitive advantage and commercial leadership to our clients. Phil understands how technology leadership can help to deliver good returns to investors.
Paul Comyn: CFO and COO: A fully qualified chartered accountant with a solid appreciation of what it takes to build successful entrepreneurial businesses. Paul is our expert on all things media having built up a wealth of experience within the newspaper industry. He was CFO of the team that grew a regional newspaper group from £3 million to an exit of £300 million and understands what is needed to deliver high growth and high returns to investors.
Jeff Meers: Director (Non-Exec): Jess has built a successful career working at “C” level for blue chip companies launching new products, creating new brands and setting up and running internet businesses. Jeff has huge experience in global media and as worldwide vice president of the International Data Group (IDG), he oversaw an aggressive acquisition programme which led to IDG becoming one of the largest media groups worldwide.
Nigel Tobin: Director (Non –Exec): Nigel helps to guide the company from his experience in the world of financial services. He served as CEO of Global Home Loans Group Limited, was Executive VP at Countrywide Financial Corporation’s International Division and has also held executive positions with Barclays Bank Plc. Currently chairman of Growth Innovators Group, Nigel understands the need for high growth companies to grow safely.