This week Verge CEO Andre Dixon sat down with Scott Currie – Head of VOXI. As VOXI is aimed specifically towards young people, Andre wanted to find out more about how VOXI got started, trends for Gen-Z and entrepreneurship of the future.
Dre: Can you tell us all about VOXI and how it got started?
Scott: It’s a long story, but I’ll keep it short! VOXI was started around seven years ago, Vodafone was looking at new ways to attract a younger customer base and so the idea to launch a digital sub-brand targeting this demographic was conceived. We’ve been operating in the UK market now for six years and it’s been great to see the brand grow significantly over that period.
Dre: Can you break it down in layman’s terms the relationship between VOXI and Vodafone? I think that some people may think VOXI has nothing to do with Vodafone.
Scott: It’s an interesting one. VOXI’s a sub brand and we are fully owned by Vodafone. We are a part of the same business, but we are very much a startup within that. I have a team that’s dedicated 100% to VOXI with full accountability of the business but we obviously rely on the broader Vodafone brand and teams for support.
It’s important for us to build credibility and one of the easiest ways to do that quite quickly is to leverage our relationship with Vodafone, which is highly regarded with consumers. So you will see VOXI by Vodafone in some places, strategically, and VOXI stand alone in others because we also want to build the VOXI brand as a standalone. We don’t shy away from our relationship with Vodafone, in fact we embrace it.
“We started VOXI with a relentless focus on the customer, which sounds quite cliched, but the reality is we are a business that has our whole customer base on a 30-day rolling plan, no contract, no commitment. So tomorrow, all of our customers could leave and go somewhere else! That really focuses teams’ minds around creating great value for customers and providing great experiences.”
Dre: So, am I right in saying that your target market is Gen-Z and old fossils like myself, are not welcome?
Scott: Not at all! When we launched VOXI we were very targeted at 25 year olds and under. In the early days, we even had an age gating process which meant you had to provide your driver’s license, passport or some other form of identification to get a VOXI plan. Which seems crazy, right? But at the time, we wanted to offer a rich and unique proposition to the market and this allowed us to do that. We have since removed the age gate and whilst we are still very much focused on serving and appeasing our Gen-Z customers, anyone is welcome to join VOXI and experience our market leading propositions.
Dre: Are there any trends that you’ve noticed since you’ve been doing this launch that you guys have had to adapt to?
Scott: I think one trend that has really become apparent in the market is the consumers relentless focus on making sustainable and ethical business choices. At VOXI, we are focused on how we can reduce our carbon impact on the environment and having the support of Vodafone enables us to do this profoundly – our overall ambition is to achieve net zero by 2040.
We are already taking significant steps to help us reach that target. Last year we launched a refurbished phone category which we are looking to scale further. We also moved to 100% recyclable plastic SIMs and will introduce eSIMs later this year, taking away the need to use a traditional plastic sim card and allowing customers to connect simply by scanning a QR code instead.
I also can’t sit here today and not mention the rapidly accelerating potential of Generative AI. It’s a hot topic at VOXI, my team have created a ChatGPT jar where I have to put money in every time I mention it. But it’s great to see the potential application of a large language model like that, which would make a real impact on the way we are able to service our customers.
“We also moved to 100% recyclable plastic SIMs and will introduce eSIMs later this year, taking away the need to use a traditional plastic sim card and allowing customers to connect simply by scanning a QR code instead.”
Dre: So I am going to get you to predict the future now, and ask what type of trends do you predict Gen Z will set? You mentioned, being more environmentally friendly but are there other things you guys are getting into? Because I see you guys everywhere – events, concerts and on TV.
Scott: I think shared experiences and partnerships will continue to be important. We’ve been through a period where lots of events were postponed because of COVID so we’re excited to get back to engaging with our audience directly in new and unique ways. For example we’ve partnered with LadBible who run our social media content channels, and have also partnered with Kiss FM with which we’ll be running a number of unique competitions and experiences, including being the headline sponsor of Kiss Ibiza and Kiss haunted house later this year.
What makes VOXI unique is that we enable our users to surf their favourite social media platforms without using their data, so top of mind for us is creating unique experiences that really bring this to life.
Dre: I’ll be waiting for my invite for Ibiza, you caught my attention fully with that! Do you think your relationship with your strategic partners is why you’ve had such great growth so quickly?
Scott: Growth for us means many things. We started VOXI with a relentless focus on the customer, which sounds quite cliched, but the reality is we are a business that has our whole customer base on a 30-day rolling plan, no contract, no commitment. So tomorrow, all of our customers could leave and go somewhere else! That really focuses teams’ minds around creating great value for customers and providing great experiences.
Tied to this, we are laser focused on delivering value for money propositions and strengthening the brand. This is a transient audience so we need to be able to adapt at pace to ensure we are able to meet their needs.
As we head into the future, I’m excited about the foundations we are beginning to lay down which will serve us well in the long-term. This includes bringing on a new creative agency, our strategic brand partnerships and finding new and innovative ways to engage our customers on social.
Dre: So lastly, we’re really big on getting students and people to try to start their own business and become entrepreneurs, can you give people three pieces of advice, because you run this big ship here, you have many people keeping the cogs turning.
Scott: I really believe in the power of young entrepreneurs. As technology continues to evolve, this group in particular is great at embracing change and finding new and innovative ways to apply it to real world problems. Given the rate of change we’re now seeing across multiple industries, I think there’s lots of opportunities for young people to demonstrate fresh thinking and create new solutions. Naturally as this happens, they will experience numerous successes and failures, but embrace it. The ability to adapt and learn from these are really important as you iterate and launch to market.
The second for me is network. A strong network has been hugely influential in my career. Whether that be mentorship or connecting with like minded people that have a shared goal. During covid that was more challenging as we moved fully to Digital communication, but now there’s a good mix between the two. Taking the time to build those networks are super important because the reality is as a young entrepreneur, you’re not going to know everything and you need people to help support, guide you and ultimately help bring your product or service to market.
And then the last thing for me is exactly what we did when we launched VOXI, relentlessly focus on value for the customer rather than the technology that powers it. I see lots of entrepreneurs come into the fold with brilliant technologies, but they haven’t necessarily thought about the customer application. All that innovation is great, but it won’t make a difference unless you can do something with it that benefits your customer, so that needs to be the focus.
Dre: How can you sign up for VOXI?
Scott: So you can go online, at VOXI.co.uk. You can order a free SIM or you can activate right there and then. And you’ll get that in the post and be able to enjoy unlimited social media across all of our plans, and unlimited video if you choose to do so as well.
