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| Sunday, 4 December 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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SMSing with a difference by Chamitha Kuruppu
But for twenty-something Janaka Rupasinghe this simple communication mode has brought wealth, fame and luck. This unique lad boasts of setting up the first wireless marketing research company in the country. If you ever happened to participate in one of those opinion polls on television via SMS, during the recently held presidential elections thank Janaka for his initiative. The country owes this lad more for his attempts for setting up the newest trend in opinion polls. Janaka Rupasinghe is the Chief Executive Officer of ZMessenger, a company specialising in Wireless Marketing and Marketing Research Services. Having set up the company in February 2003 Janaka and his team gained over 50,000 subscribers.
ZMessenger is among the few South Asian Companies to clinch the 'Best use of mobile technology in emergency situations' conducted by the World GSM Association. Janaka and his team received the award for an election violence monitoring campaign conducted during the 2004 general elections. The unique image of ZMessenger is that it is a company specializing in Wireless Marketing and Marketing Research Services and the first in Sri Lanka to specialise in this field by using technology such as SMS and MMS. ZMessenger services are built, managed and delivered through a team of Marketing and Marketing Research and Technology experts who are still in their twenties. ZMessenger has the ability to develop applications that will deliver real-time market research information from various countries to the desktop of global brand managers at the corporate HQ. But the currently focusing on promoting the SMS based polls. ZMessenger works with three television channels and many other corporate giants at present. "The CDMA technology has further developed SMS in Sri Lanka," says Janaka. "During the election season the biggest response for SMS polls were received from Mahiyangana and Tissamaharama, all because of CDMA phones," Janaka points out. Although this is a novel concept in Sri Lanka the Short Message Service is popular among many other countries. Our only focus is to promote this in the fields of banking, entertainment as well as e-governing," he adds. According to Janaka in many countries SMS based complaints have improved the efficiency in the government sector. "We are negotiating with several institutions to introduce e-governance in the country," he adds. Though it has become a successful business venture setting up ZMessenger has not been an easy task. "No institution or person believed a new concept like this would be successful in Sri Lanka," recalls Janaka. A product of Gampaha Bandaranayake College, Janaka obtained his Degree in Industrial Management at the University of Kelaniya. He is currently reading for his Post Graduate Degree at the Institute of Management at the Sri Jayawardenapura University. He has working experience in Key Research and Information Limited as a Marketing Research Executive as well as an Analysis Executive, and at Tritel Services Limited, as a Marketing Executive. Janaka speaks fondly about his two business partners Jayomi and Dushyanthan, who took the initiative of starting ZMessenger. " We believe that our methods to be a threat to traditional research institutes with technology and methods being an important complement, Janaka says he look forward for more competition which will lead further development in the field. In a relatively short time span, ZMessenger has achieved strategic alliances with service providers, to build up a strong field network in all districts in Sri Lanka covering more than 75% mobile phone selling outlets, set up strategic alliances with foreign wireless marketing companies and also that their software is completely developed in-house. There is no doubt that our concept has been recognised by people here but we do not want to be limited to a small market in Sri Lanka, says Janaka adding that with their unique business model ZMessenger will soon enter into Europe and USA markets by partnering with one of the world's leading wireless marketing companies. |
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The 'SMS habit' in young people is unbelievable.
Some of them SMS to cut down the cost -- some prefer to use it to say
those nasty things you would never able to express via a conversation --
many see it as the coolest and the most preferred communication mode. 
Janaka and his team bagged the Best Innovative Brand of the Year 2005
award at the prestigious SLIM Awards. 
