The UK mobile telecoms operator, Virgin Mobile, has launched a customer reward scheme called 'Glue', featuring a 'connect-a-mate' offer which gives the company's mobile phone users 10 worth of free airtime for every friend they successfully introduce to the network.
Each customer can receive up to eight 10 airtime bonuses each year, and the connected friends are not required to spend any specific amount on their new handset. According to Virgin Mobile, only two similar schemes exist in the UK (from Orange and Vodafone), both of which specify a spend threshold for the new handset in order for a bonus to be awarded.
Virgin Mobile also claims that 75% of its customers have already recommended switching to the same network. According to the UK telecoms regulatory body, Oftel, a recent survey covering the main five UK networks found that the average number of customers who would recommend switching to their own network is far lower, at 27%.
According to Virgin Mobile's sales and marketing director, Graeme Hutchinson, the offer will prompt customers to question whether their friends are getting the best deal from their network. Hutchinson bravely added, "We're not afraid of a little healthy competition from our rivals."
With the launch of Glue, Hutchinson says Virgin Mobile is simply responding to a growing mobile trend known as 'tribalism', where customers are using their group status to reap the financial and social benefits of being on the same mobile telecoms network.
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