2010 Winner: Outstanding Achievement in Information and Communication Technology
Alberta-Based Company Becomes World Leader in Mobile Search Applications
The people at Poynt Corporation attribute the company’s success to Alberta’s excellence in geomatics. The Calgary-based company’s lead product is the Poynt mobile local search application.
The core of the technology comes from the integration of mapping, GPS and geomatics, large-scale data sourcing and integration, intuitive graphic interfaces and mobile data optimization, all of which find strong historical roots in Alberta’s resource and technology sector.
With Poynt, Multiplied Media has successfully incorporated highly complex technologies into a compelling and simple application. The company has become a world leader in mobile local search applications and has received international accolades for its product.
“The objective of Poynt is to solve problems from a local search perspective,” explains Andrew Osis, President and CEO. “We connect the consumer and their mobile device to the vendor, help them find what they need and get them there. And they don’t have to be tethered to a phone book, laptop or PC.” The application provides maps, directions, the ability to purchase movie tickets and make reservations at local restaurants.
Multiplied Media receives hundreds of emails a day from satisfied customers, thanking them for the good service received from Poynt. One user found a quick route to the airport when another application failed. Another user recovered a lost wallet by using Poynt.
“Whenever I’m having a bad day, I go read some of the emails,” Mr. Osis says. Since Poynt was launched in 2008 user numbers have grown primarily through the testimonials of happy clients, a savvy marketing strategy.
“For the launch of Poynt, we emailed 100 people we knew had BlackBerries that would use the application and talk about it,” remembers Mr. Osis. “We asked them to test it and if they liked it to talk about it and send the application to a friend. If they didn’t like it, we wanted them to tell us why so we could improve it. The next day we had 10 new subscribers and 10 more on the day after that. There has not been a day since then that we haven’t had new users.” Multiplied Media now has over 3.5 million users for the Poynt application.
Multiplied Media recently launched its newest application in the Philippines. Email on the Go allows non-smart-phone users to have the benefits of a smart phone. They can receive emails on their phones and respond to them. Attachments are also accessible through the application.
Multiplied Media began operating in 2002. The publicly traded company has 38 employees and operates in seven countries in five languages. It intends to add four to five countries and several new operating platforms to its roster in the near future.
“Local mobile search applications are one of fastest growing consumer products in terms of interest,” explains Multiplied Media Chairman Stephen Lougheed. “We are among the clear leaders in what we are doing and we are accomplishing that by growing globally. And it’s happening here, not in New York City or Silicon Valley. This is an exciting Alberta story.”
