Head of the week: He'll give you an earful
With his AudioP, Anton Fessler wants to sell messages set to music via the Internet at ridicule prices instead of spot prices.
With his AudioP, Anton Fessler wants to sell messages set to music via the Internet at ridicule prices instead of spot prices.
Reading in the car is easy for passengers - but impossible for the man or woman behind the wheel. So how does someone use their time sensibly to absorb information when they are on the road for five hours a day? Anton Fessler was approached by an acquaintance in the banking sector with just such a need. The stock exchange trader said that he would like to listen to the early morning reports instead of reading them for a change. This gave Fessler the idea that a tool should be developed to communicate information not just in black and white, but with audio files in a similarly cost-effective way. "At some point, it will no longer be possible to inform people just by eye," was a logical consideration for Fessler, who realized that the ear is still used far too little today to absorb targeted information. There are already audio books. However, they are usually elaborate and too expensive for everyday messages. There are also specialized companies that sell podcasts with music and jingles. However, the production costs and delivery times are not yet very attractive. This is how Fessler finally discovered his gap in the market: "We want to offer simple audio documents in the shortest possible time at reasonable prices."
Fessler's start-up AudioP, founded in May, makes use of the ever-expanding possibilities of the Internet and cell phones. The customer uploads a written text to www.audiop.ch. They then select the language: German, English, French or Italian. A second click selects the delivery time: 24 hours or 2 to 5 days. A third step determines the quality "basic" or "professional". The fourth selection decides how the file should ultimately be delivered.
With the "Mobile phone number" solution, the recipients of the message receive a summary of the audio file and a telephone number by SMS. The file is automatically played on this number. "Depending on the client, this can be a free number or a value-added number," explains Fessler. And who needs it? "Banks can send their customers investment tips by cell phone, for example," says the young entrepreneur, noting that there is already a tangible need for this. With the second option, "cell phone download", Fessler sees rapidly growing opportunities thanks to the new generation of cell phones with iPhones. AudioP or the customer himself sends a link via SMS, which is used to save the audio file on the target audience's cell phone. With the third delivery option, "Audio CD", the message is sent by post on a CD. This service extends the delivery time slightly. It is therefore mainly used for longer-term projects such as e-learning or product presentations. Here too, AudioP can already serve an interesting customer: An internationally active manufacturer of construction machinery has had CDs with various product information recorded for its sales representatives. The representative listens to these "brochures set to music" to get in the mood or as a refresher while driving to customers. Coca-Cola is also interested in using such CDs in future to inform its sales representatives about news from the head office.
The fourth option for delivering an audio message with AudioP is the "link download". A link is sent by e-mail, which the customer can use to download the audio file from a protected server.
None of this is completely new. What is new, however, are the prices at which AudioP can offer its services. Thanks to largely automated processing via the network, the "basic" model can be offered from as little as 166 francs. At AudioP, Anton Fessler works with a network of voice-over artists who have set up their own sound booth at home. The job can therefore also be worthwhile as a side income for an actor. Fessler believes that the ideal length for an audio file is no more than five minutes. For such short takes, the effort for the speaker is too great to go into a studio. Having your own booth makes the offer cheaper - and the technical quality is still guaranteed.
Anton Fessler got the idea for this company during his time at Venturelab. As a coach at this organization in St.Gallen, he advised various start-ups on their foundation and in the start-up phase. "Why not change sides for a change?", he said to himself last spring, as Fessler has always felt like an entrepreneur. In his youth, he gained his first management experience with the Scouts. He later studied business administration at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur (ZHW), where he founded an "Association for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Students".
Anton Fessler currently still runs his AudioP as a one-man show together with a network of freelance speakers. However, the company is broadly based with a board of directors from the young entrepreneur scene and illustrious investors. These, as well as a few customers with top brands from the luxury goods to mass-produced goods sectors, believe in the future of AudioP. "With the development of the new generations of cell phones, our idea will also be suitable for the masses," Fessler is convinced. "With an iPhone, you can simply surf to a website that is already technically optimized for our idea."
As far as advertising applications are concerned, Fessler believes the best time is yet to come. When budgets for expensive commercials or large advertisements become tighter, the message on the cell phone remains a cheap solution. In addition, success can be measured in very concrete terms. "You can include an audio file in an ad with a link or bee tag. If this is called up, the ad has had its effect. The idea then works like an electronic coupon," says Fessler, looking forward to future developments.
Andreas Panzeri
Reading in the car is easy for passengers - but impossible for the man or woman behind the wheel. So how does someone use their time sensibly to absorb information when they are on the road for five hours a day? Anton Fessler was approached by an acquaintance in the banking sector with just such a need. The stock exchange trader said that he would like to listen to the early morning reports instead of reading them for a change. This gave Fessler the idea that a tool should be developed to communicate information not just in black and white, but with audio files in a similarly cost-effective way. "At some point, it will no longer be possible to inform people just by eye," was a logical consideration for Fessler, who realized that the ear is still used far too little today to absorb targeted information. There are already audio books. However, they are usually elaborate and too expensive for everyday messages. There are also specialized companies that sell podcasts with music and jingles. However, the production costs and delivery times are not yet very attractive. This is how Fessler finally discovered his gap in the market: "We want to offer simple audio documents in the shortest possible time at reasonable prices."
Fessler's start-up AudioP, founded in May, makes use of the ever-expanding possibilities of the Internet and cell phones. The customer uploads a written text to www.audiop.ch. They then select the language: German, English, French or Italian. A second click selects the delivery time: 24 hours or 2 to 5 days. A third step determines the quality "basic" or "professional". The fourth selection decides how the file should ultimately be delivered.
With the "Mobile phone number" solution, the recipients of the message receive a summary of the audio file and a telephone number by SMS. The file is automatically played on this number. "Depending on the client, this can be a free number or a value-added number," explains Fessler. And who needs it? "Banks can send their customers investment tips by cell phone, for example," says the young entrepreneur, noting that there is already a tangible need for this. With the second option, "cell phone download", Fessler sees rapidly growing opportunities thanks to the new generation of cell phones with iPhones. AudioP or the customer himself sends a link via SMS, which is used to save the audio file on the target audience's cell phone. With the third delivery option, "Audio CD", the message is sent by post on a CD. This service extends the delivery time slightly. It is therefore mainly used for longer-term projects such as e-learning or product presentations. Here too, AudioP can already serve an interesting customer: An internationally active manufacturer of construction machinery has had CDs with various product information recorded for its sales representatives. The representative listens to these "brochures set to music" to get in the mood or as a refresher while driving to customers. Coca-Cola is also interested in using such CDs in future to inform its sales representatives about news from the head office.
The fourth option for delivering an audio message with AudioP is the "link download". A link is sent by e-mail, which the customer can use to download the audio file from a protected server.
None of this is completely new. What is new, however, are the prices at which AudioP can offer its services. Thanks to largely automated processing via the network, the "basic" model can be offered from as little as 166 francs. At AudioP, Anton Fessler works with a network of voice-over artists who have set up their own sound booth at home. The job can therefore also be worthwhile as a side income for an actor. Fessler believes that the ideal length for an audio file is no more than five minutes. For such short takes, the effort for the speaker is too great to go into a studio. Having your own booth makes the offer cheaper - and the technical quality is still guaranteed.
Anton Fessler got the idea for this company during his time at Venturelab. As a coach at this organization in St.Gallen, he advised various start-ups on their foundation and in the start-up phase. "Why not change sides for a change?", he said to himself last spring, as Fessler has always felt like an entrepreneur. In his youth, he gained his first management experience with the Scouts. He later studied business administration at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Winterthur (ZHW), where he founded an "Association for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Students".
Anton Fessler currently still runs his AudioP as a one-man show together with a network of freelance speakers. However, the company is broadly based with a board of directors from the young entrepreneur scene and illustrious investors. These, as well as a few customers with top brands from the luxury goods to mass-produced goods sectors, believe in the future of AudioP. "With the development of the new generations of cell phones, our idea will also be suitable for the masses," Fessler is convinced. "With an iPhone, you can simply surf to a website that is already technically optimized for our idea."
As far as advertising applications are concerned, Fessler believes the best time is yet to come. When budgets for expensive commercials or large advertisements become tighter, the message on the cell phone remains a cheap solution. In addition, success can be measured in very concrete terms. "You can include an audio file in an ad with a link or bee tag. If this is called up, the ad has had its effect. The idea then works like an electronic coupon," says Fessler, looking forward to future developments.
Andreas Panzeri
