Simply a different operator! At Virgin Mobile there is no call center but “rock center”, there are no plans but anti plans, and they carry music in their DNA. They are the most successful MVNO in the region and in Colombia there are already millions of fans. Of course their music App is not just any other App, it’s Lola Music, a girl with lots of personality that has everyone dancing!
So we must tell the story of Virgin Mobile and we will take the time to tell it to anyone who has enough curiosity to read this incredible success story.
We approached Virgin Mobile Colombia in early 2015, with Kuack Media Group just launching its first services after the spin-off.
The idea was to launch, together with Universal Music Group, a single label App in Charts mode (identical to the one we had made for the Quilmes brand in Argentina), at a very low price and aimed at a certain segment of its customer base. It was a very niche and ¨low cost¨ service of music.
The goal at that time was to give Virgin Mobile an App for streaming music that could be sold at a very low price because the existing Premium services in Colombia were very expensive.
But of course we underestimated the Virgin Mobile culture, which in retrospect was our greatest success.
At the first meeting we were asked if we really understood the responsibility of offering a music service at Virgin Mobile, and that’s where it all started! It could not be an App like the one we came to offer, this had to be very ¨ Virgin Mobile¨
Virgin Mobile Colombia, made the decision to get involved with us in the project, they saw in Kuack Media not only a music supplier but also an ally who, with a little motivation, could design something very special for them!
At that point we began to understand the magic of Virgin Mobile’s organizational culture.
Already at the second meeting we were out of breath, we were invited to dream.
And as is customary in our team, we listened carefully to the idea they had for their music app (it seemed crazy) and when they asked us if we were able to do it, we just said YES.
We believe that at this point is where we realized that in our team there was also something of that ¨ Virgin Mobile¨ culture.
It is necessary to move towards the beginning of 2015 when other services had a very low penetration. Everything was just beginning for Colombia as far as music streaming services are concerned.
And what did they ask us at that meeting?
For those who know how the music industry works and understand the intricacies of developing a music app, it is very clear that this was very difficult to achieve, impossible for many.
However, we analyzed the situation and as is the custom at Kuack Media, we enthusiastically faced the challenge!
It is fair to clarify that this team has been working with Music Apps for many years and we had that in our favor. We had just finished a huge development for the giant Bradesco Bank in Brazil, which by the way was the first App with videos included in the region.
Thus we began the titanic task of convincing everyone involved in the music industry. We sat down to talk to Major Labels, Publishers, Indies, copyright organizations and all those whose approval was needed for a new business model for Latin America. It was a very hard job, but finally everyone understood the importance of creating legal music services adapted to the reality of emerging markets, the need to make more flexible the current model and offer services in daily modality or with some restrictions but more economic; like the charts service.
While part of the team struggled with the legal aspects of the project, another part embarked on unexplored territory.
Charts and Premium in the same App?
And should users be able to switch from one model to another?
Does this have to be integrated with Virgin Mobile’s billing systems?
And the list is much more extensive…
Finally in August of 2015 we released our first version in BETA; which of course does not have much to do with the current service.
And as expected, Virgin Mobile decided to do something different and gave it an identity! Lola Music was born.
In January 2016, with an already stable App, we launched the service and since then it has been a constant evolution and a great learning experience full of satisfactions.
Currently tens of thousands of Virgin Mobile Colombia users enjoy with their Anti Plans the benefit of enjoying an included Charts App!
Now comes a new version of Lola Music (her adolescence) and again they have raised a new challenge to us; before the end of 2017 we will be telling you what they asked us this time!
It has been an honor for us to work with Virgin Mobile, and for those who wonder if the myth of the organizational culture of the “Virgin” companies is real, we can say with total certainty that it is! And it is contagious! Dream and live the adventure!
Thanks for the inspiration Virgin Mobile Colombia.
Rodri, Alex, Feli, Adri, Guido, Juan, tremendous team!
