I-Free
Encyclopedia
i-Free is a Russia
n mobile services and content company, operating in the CIS
since 2001 and internationally since 2006. i-Free’s focus is on pioneering projects in mobile and NFC
technology, electronic finance, digital content distribution, electronic payments and micropayments, applications for smartphones and new network devices, B2C digital product marketing and B2B mobile marketing
.
, Russia. i-Free also has an office in Moscow
and, outside Russia, in Kiev
(Ukraine), Minsk
(Belarus), Almaty
(Kazakhstan), Mumbai
(India), Beijing
(China) and São Paulo
(Brazil). i-Free products and services are available in more than 100 countries.
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov was appointed CEO of i-Free in May 2010, when the company’s Board met to plan its near-term strategy and make some key management changes.
The purpose of the management reshuffle was to streamline the company’s operations, give a new impetus to innovation and take i-Free to new, burgeoning markets.
Before taking the top job, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov managed i-Free’s marketing and operations for five years, steering several units: i-Free Distribution (mobile content services for the consumer market), i-Free Business Solutions (mobile solutions for the B2B market), SMSDirect (mobile CRM
systems), and the Licensing Department.
The people who have led i-Free for many years – Kirill Gorynya, Kirill Petrov and Sergei Shulga focus on their most recent brainchild: i-Free Innovations, which is a new i-Free division dedicated to new product and service development for emerging markets, and venture project management.
i-Free Business Solutions operates in the following areas:
products. It creates operators community-portals of new generation - including UGC-resources, branded social network
s with geolocation
, etc. It also develops and implements cooperative marketing actions and promo projects at operators' portals and produces the up-to-date content for operators' platforms.
i-Free Operators work involves the following areas:
i-Free organized interactive campaigns for the largest international brands like Coca-Cola
, Pepsi
, Chupa Chups
, Gillette, Dove, Duracell
, Reebok
, Foster's, Stella Artois, Tuborg, Beefeater, Royal Dutch Shell
and others.
In August 2010 i-Free completed an interactive promotion titled Free Gas Every Hour! for Shell, designed to boost sales and strengthen consumer loyalty.
In September 2010 i-Free-Ukraine was ranked No.2 among the Top 10 MTS content partners in 1H2010. MTS-Ukraine features a broad range of i-Free-Ukraine products and services, including all kinds of entertainments from major developers and copyright owners, voice services, WAP sites, SMS services, mobile marketing and much more. i-Free-Ukraine is also an RBT aggregator of “Music for Ringtone” services.
In December 2010 i-Free was awarded Venture Partner status by the Seed Fund of the Russian Venture Company. The role of i-Free will be to look for innovation projects of promise and put up investments for their development.
i-Free, which first came to China
in 2006, is now the only Russian content provider in that market. So far, i-Free has supplied mobile content to Chinese cellular companies China Mobile
, China Unicom
and China Telecom
via local service providers. After winning the China Mobile tender, i-Free will supply mobile games directly to that operator.
The bidders in the China Mobile tender included some of the major content and service providers active in China, as well as local and international mobile game publishers. The chief selection criteria in the competition were quality and commercial potential.
Mobile games have always featured very large in i-Free’s product portfolio. While developing its own mobile games, the company also outsources games from Russian and international developers.
“This win has tremendous significance for us,” commented Zhang Miao, Director of Development at i-Free-China. “It’s not just about the fact that from now on, i-Free can do business directly with the biggest cellular company in the world. It matters even more that Russian high-tech products have won recognition in China. I believe i-Free’s win in this tender will open up new opportunities in the Chinese market for ourselves and for many mobile game publishers who are our partners.”
The China Mobile tender was held on 7 December at China Mobile’s game content development facility - The China Mobile Game Service Center.
In August 2010 the company’s work in Ukraine’s mobile marketing industry was independently acclaimed by the International Association for Marketing Initiative (IAMI) in its annual ratings where companies are ranked by their earnings in the marketing services sector. IAMI’s 2009 rating lists 35 key marketing players based in Ukraine, each with an aggregate budget of around UAH500 million. These are Ukraine’s top PR, advertising and marketing agencies and other marketing specialist companies offering services such as promotion campaigns, trade promotions, direct marketing, database management, consumer loyalty schemes, merchandizing, and others. i-Free-Ukraine, the only mobile service provider on the IAMI rating, is No. 12 on the list.
In November 2010 i-Free Innovations, an innovation-focused division of i-Free, was named winner of Russian Mobile VAS Awards'2010 in the “Mobile Terminal Applications” category for its mobile travel planning and booking application, Smartive. Russian Mobile VAS Awards'2010 was part of the 7th Mobile VAS Conference, an international forum on mobile value added services held in St. Petersburg on 18 and 19 November.
Some of the leading mobile VAS and content players competed for Russian Mobile VAS Awards'2010, which featured upwards of 40 projects and products developed this year.
Smartive, the application pitched by i-Free Innovations, is a tool to organize any kind of trip: plan the perfect itinerary, find and buy affordable train or plane tickets, etc.
In December 2010 i-Free won a prize at World Summit Award Mobile
‘2010 for its “Mobile Vending” project. The prize was awarded at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
World Summit Award Mobile (WSA Mobile) is an international mobile industry competition featuring the most promising mobile projects from every part of the world. The competition listed over 100 participating countries this year.
i-Free’s “Mobile Vending” was the winner in the mBusiness & Commerce category. “Mobile Vending” is a dual-functionality hard- and software package for vending machines that supports both mobile commerce and remote management and auditing of the machine’s key functions. The package comprises a GSM module (installed in the vending machine), a server module (administers the preset work sequence), and a WEB interface (the tool that mediates between the system, the computer and the mobile phone).
In December 2010 i-Free was awarded the title of “Best Content Provider of China Mobile
.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n mobile services and content company, operating in the CIS
CIS
CIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...
since 2001 and internationally since 2006. i-Free’s focus is on pioneering projects in mobile and NFC
NFC
NFC may refer to:* Nagacorp FC, a Cambodian sporting club* National Finance Center, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture* National Football Conference, a constituent conference of the National Football League...
technology, electronic finance, digital content distribution, electronic payments and micropayments, applications for smartphones and new network devices, B2C digital product marketing and B2B mobile marketing
Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing can refer to one of two categories of interest. First, and relatively new, is meant to describe marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone using SMS Marketing....
.
Geography
i-Free's headquarters are located in Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia. i-Free also has an office in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and, outside Russia, in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
(Ukraine), Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
(Belarus), Almaty
Almaty
Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
(Kazakhstan), Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
(India), Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
(China) and São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
(Brazil). i-Free products and services are available in more than 100 countries.
Company management
| Person | Post |
|---|---|
| Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov | CEO |
| Kirill Gorynya | Head of Division i-Free Innovations |
| Sergei Shulga | Head of Division i-Free Innovations |
| Kirill Petrov | Head of Division i-Free Innovations |
| Ekaterina Ivanova | Director for Business Development in the CIS |
| Evgeniy Kosolapov | Head of Overseas Business Development |
| Igor Grigoriev | Head of i-Free Vendors |
| Vasily Kuntsevich | Head of i-Free Operators |
| Andrey Pristinsky | Head of i-Free m-Commerce |
Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov was appointed CEO of i-Free in May 2010, when the company’s Board met to plan its near-term strategy and make some key management changes.
The purpose of the management reshuffle was to streamline the company’s operations, give a new impetus to innovation and take i-Free to new, burgeoning markets.
Before taking the top job, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov managed i-Free’s marketing and operations for five years, steering several units: i-Free Distribution (mobile content services for the consumer market), i-Free Business Solutions (mobile solutions for the B2B market), SMSDirect (mobile CRM
Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...
systems), and the Licensing Department.
The people who have led i-Free for many years – Kirill Gorynya, Kirill Petrov and Sergei Shulga focus on their most recent brainchild: i-Free Innovations, which is a new i-Free division dedicated to new product and service development for emerging markets, and venture project management.
Divisions
- i-Free Business Solutions is one of the leading suppliers of solutions based on mobile technologies in RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and CISCISCIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...
countries. It offers interactive mobile services and products to companies operating in varied spheres of business, using cellular communication technology. i-Free has established an i-Free Business Solutions (iBS) unit, dedicated to helping companies and PR agencies learn how to use mobile marketing techniques by designing and running massive marketing campaigns aided by mobile technology.
i-Free Business Solutions operates in the following areas:
- Mobile Marketing
- Mobile Banking
- Mobile Advertising
- SMS Information
- Mobile CRM
- Interactive Media Projects
- ODP Solutions
- WAP Platforms
- i-Free Operators performs a multifaced cooperation with mobile operators for creation and promotion of various branded
products. It creates operators community-portals of new generation - including UGC-resources, branded social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
s with geolocation
Geolocation
Geolocation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of an object, such as a radar, mobile phone or an Internet-connected computer terminal...
, etc. It also develops and implements cooperative marketing actions and promo projects at operators' portals and produces the up-to-date content for operators' platforms.
i-Free Operators work involves the following areas:
- Partnering Events and Projects: Development and Management
- Community Portals
- Operator IVR Portals
- Content for Operator Resources
- i-Free M-Commerce provides business services to companies from different industries by means of using progressive technological instruments - mobile payments, mobile vending, innovative services for telemetering and products based on NFC-technologyNear Field CommunicationNear field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...
. - i-Free Innovations is specialized in development, testing and implementation of venture projects, advanced technological designs and innovative products.
- i-Free Content is one of the leading distributors of mobile contentMobile contentMobile content is any type of media which is viewed or used on mobile phones, like ringtones, graphics, discount offers, games, movies, and GPS navigation. As mobile phone use has grown since the mid 1990s, the significance of the devices in everyday life has grown accordingly...
in RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and CISCISCIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...
countries. i-Free content is represented at the WAPWireless Application ProtocolWireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
-and InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-resources of the company, at newspapers, magazines and TV channels, and also at its own community-portal Jamango, available via mobile phones and InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Clients & partners
i-Free has partnered with some major corporations in different markets and industries, both inside and outside Russia, including cellular operators, cell phone equipment manufacturers, banks, highly rated TV networks, publishers, media groups, Internet resources, PR agencies, transnational and local FMCG brands, music publishers, copyright associations, international developers of mobile phone applications, vending machine operators.i-Free organized interactive campaigns for the largest international brands like Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
, Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups is a lollipop company founded by the Catalan Enric Bernat in 1958, and currently owned by the Dutch-Italian multinational corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The name of the brand comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck."- History :...
, Gillette, Dove, Duracell
Duracell
Duracell is a brand of batteries manufactured by Procter & Gamble.Additionally, Duracell owns the Procell professional-use brand.-Products:Duracell manufactures alkaline batteries in many common sizes, such as AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V...
, Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
, Foster's, Stella Artois, Tuborg, Beefeater, Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
and others.
In August 2010 i-Free completed an interactive promotion titled Free Gas Every Hour! for Shell, designed to boost sales and strengthen consumer loyalty.
In September 2010 i-Free-Ukraine was ranked No.2 among the Top 10 MTS content partners in 1H2010. MTS-Ukraine features a broad range of i-Free-Ukraine products and services, including all kinds of entertainments from major developers and copyright owners, voice services, WAP sites, SMS services, mobile marketing and much more. i-Free-Ukraine is also an RBT aggregator of “Music for Ringtone” services.
In December 2010 i-Free was awarded Venture Partner status by the Seed Fund of the Russian Venture Company. The role of i-Free will be to look for innovation projects of promise and put up investments for their development.
i-Free, which first came to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 2006, is now the only Russian content provider in that market. So far, i-Free has supplied mobile content to Chinese cellular companies China Mobile
China Mobile
China Mobile Limited is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company that provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world...
, China Unicom
China Unicom
China Unicom or China United Netcom Ltd , is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator in the People's Republic of China.-History:...
and China Telecom
China Telecom
China Telecom Corp. Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed line service and 3rd largest mobile telecommunication provider in the People's Republic of China.-Sectors:...
via local service providers. After winning the China Mobile tender, i-Free will supply mobile games directly to that operator.
The bidders in the China Mobile tender included some of the major content and service providers active in China, as well as local and international mobile game publishers. The chief selection criteria in the competition were quality and commercial potential.
Mobile games have always featured very large in i-Free’s product portfolio. While developing its own mobile games, the company also outsources games from Russian and international developers.
“This win has tremendous significance for us,” commented Zhang Miao, Director of Development at i-Free-China. “It’s not just about the fact that from now on, i-Free can do business directly with the biggest cellular company in the world. It matters even more that Russian high-tech products have won recognition in China. I believe i-Free’s win in this tender will open up new opportunities in the Chinese market for ourselves and for many mobile game publishers who are our partners.”
The China Mobile tender was held on 7 December at China Mobile’s game content development facility - The China Mobile Game Service Center.
Awards
In February 2010 i-Free won the Grand Prix in the annual HR Brand of the Year Awards held by HeadHunter Group. i-Free came to the competition with i-Free-Storm, the HR package that has helped it strengthen its business and keep its employees loyal and motivated. This is not the first time i-Free took part in the high-profile HR Brand of the Year/Best Employers in Russia Awards. In 2008, the company won the IT, Internet, Hard&Software – Region category and took the Grand Prix for Best HR Brand Management in the Region.In August 2010 the company’s work in Ukraine’s mobile marketing industry was independently acclaimed by the International Association for Marketing Initiative (IAMI) in its annual ratings where companies are ranked by their earnings in the marketing services sector. IAMI’s 2009 rating lists 35 key marketing players based in Ukraine, each with an aggregate budget of around UAH500 million. These are Ukraine’s top PR, advertising and marketing agencies and other marketing specialist companies offering services such as promotion campaigns, trade promotions, direct marketing, database management, consumer loyalty schemes, merchandizing, and others. i-Free-Ukraine, the only mobile service provider on the IAMI rating, is No. 12 on the list.
In November 2010 i-Free Innovations, an innovation-focused division of i-Free, was named winner of Russian Mobile VAS Awards'2010 in the “Mobile Terminal Applications” category for its mobile travel planning and booking application, Smartive. Russian Mobile VAS Awards'2010 was part of the 7th Mobile VAS Conference, an international forum on mobile value added services held in St. Petersburg on 18 and 19 November.
Some of the leading mobile VAS and content players competed for Russian Mobile VAS Awards'2010, which featured upwards of 40 projects and products developed this year.
Smartive, the application pitched by i-Free Innovations, is a tool to organize any kind of trip: plan the perfect itinerary, find and buy affordable train or plane tickets, etc.
In December 2010 i-Free won a prize at World Summit Award Mobile
World Summit Award Mobile
The World Summit Award Mobile is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best in mobile content and innovative applications within the framework of, and in cooperation with, the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society , mandated by the WSIS Plan of Action and executed...
‘2010 for its “Mobile Vending” project. The prize was awarded at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
World Summit Award Mobile (WSA Mobile) is an international mobile industry competition featuring the most promising mobile projects from every part of the world. The competition listed over 100 participating countries this year.
i-Free’s “Mobile Vending” was the winner in the mBusiness & Commerce category. “Mobile Vending” is a dual-functionality hard- and software package for vending machines that supports both mobile commerce and remote management and auditing of the machine’s key functions. The package comprises a GSM module (installed in the vending machine), a server module (administers the preset work sequence), and a WEB interface (the tool that mediates between the system, the computer and the mobile phone).
In December 2010 i-Free was awarded the title of “Best Content Provider of China Mobile
China Mobile
China Mobile Limited is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company that provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world...
.