Kajeet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kajeet
Type Private
Founded 2006
Headquarters Bethesda, Maryland (Corporate headquarters)
Key people Daniel Neal, CEO & Founder
Industry Wireless Services
Products Wireless using CDMA
Website kajeet.com

Kajeet is a pay-as-you-go Sprint-based Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that began selling phones to the general public in March 2007 through their website.

Kajeet advertises with six animated characters ("dudes") who represent various kid archetypes: Kane, Lottie, Obie, Skratch, Tallulah, and Zeo. Each character has his or her own ringtones, wallpapers and graphics that kids can choose to use . The characters' personalities are fleshed out in "Dudeworld."

Kajeet was discussed in the TIME Magazine online article[1] and in the print edition.[2] In both, the author Wendy Cole recounted her daughter's experience during kajeet beta testing.

On March 19, 2007, kajeet launched a presence in Whyville, the virtual world for kids, sponsoring a "Chat Factory" in the Whyville Mall. In May 2007, the kajeet-Whyville relationship was presented as a case study in online marketing to kids at the Kid Power 2007 conference in Orlando, Florida.

In mid-March 2007, kajeet officially announced its retail launch in Best Buy and Limited Too stores, and in April began selling in Long's Drugs stores on the west coast.

In early April 2007, kajeet began running its first television commercial on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and other kid-specific broadcast outlets.

On May 16, 2007, kajeet was featured in "Marketing Cell Phones to Kids,"[3] part of a five-part CBS News report on marketing to kids.[4]

In June 2007, kajeet launched Dudemail, an e-mail application featuring customizable versions of the six animated characters that includes a text-to-speech component. The company was also singled out by Best Buy in their 2007 Corporate Responsibility Report.[5]

By October 2007, kajeet had secured phone and refill card distribution not only in Best Buy, Limited Too and Longs Drugs, but also in Target, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, CVS and Rite Aid locations. The company moved quickly in the wake of Disney Mobile's announcement that it was shutting down in December 2007 by offering a $50 service credit to Disney Mobile users who switch their number to the kajeet service.

kajeet was named one of five companies to watch by The National Venture Capital Association, a trade association that represents the U.S. venture capital industry, in its 2005-2006 Year in Review. In September 2007, kajeet announced the securing of $36.8 million in series-B venture capital funding.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Cell Phones for the SpongeBob Set", TIME Magazine, 2007-02-16. 
  2. ^ "Calling All Kids", TIME Magazine, 2007-03-01. 
  3. ^ "Marketing Cell Phones to Kids", CBS News, 2007-05-16. 
  4. ^ "Eye To Eye - Kids Go Mobile", CBS News, 2007-05-16. 
  5. ^ Best Buy 2007 corporate responsibility report (June 2007).

[edit] External links

v • d • e
US mobile phone companies (network operators)
Major
Super-regional
Minor-regional
Virtual