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Ziptel signs Brett Lee as ambassador to gain traction for mobile app in subcontinent

Wallace, Lee and Ziptel CEO Bert Mondello

Wallace, Lee and Ziptel CEO Bert Mondello

Telco Ziptel is looking to capitalise on the popularity of former Australia cricketer Brett Lee in India by signing him as its global brand ambassador for its Zipt mobile application which is set to launch towards the end of June.

The Australian-based telco aims to leverage Lee’s appeal and recognition in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan to encourage take-up of the app which enables users to send SMS and make international calls to other Zipt users for free.

Ziptel executive director Keaton Wallace told Mumbrella: “The whole process of going for someone like Brett is about aligning ourselves and getting synergy with someone who has a faultless reputation, is extremely credible, reliable as an individual both on and off the field.

“We were very mindful of aligning ourselves with an ambassador that carries with them a conservative and reliable approach to everything.”

The Indian subcontinent is a key market for Zipt given its growing internet penetration.

The company will attempt to leverge Lee’s social network, which includes over 4.2m followers across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi counted among his Twitter follows, to get attention for the new app.

“His reputation in the Indian Subcontinent is second to none and we are excited by the opportunity to work with Brett to drive awareness and enable us to engage with a huge population who can benefit greatly from the Zipt app and future features to engage the community and create further monetisation avenues within the application,” said Wallace.

Ziptel is looking to build in-app purchases featuring Lee, such as the ability to chat with the cricket legend.

“We’ll plan a product launch surrounding Brett Lee with some really cool and exciting features and community environments which will enable his fans to interact with him via the application, live chat with Lee type of things,” Wallace explained.

Lee said: “I’m excited to partner with Ziptel at this exciting phase of growth. The company has developed an innovative product, which has real appeal to me and enables people around the world, especially those in low bandwidth regions to interact and communicate with their friends and families, without having to compromise on quality and technology.

“There is a genuine necessity for the Zipt app globally, especially in countries like India which is one the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world with potentially millions of new customers in the coming years.”

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