Amsterdam-based unicorn, MessageBird, is undergoing a rebranding process and will now be known as Bird. The company reportedly acquired the highly sought-after domain name, Bird.com, a few years ago, investing millions in the purchase.
Founded in 2011 by Adriaan Mol and Robert Vis, Bird is a cloud communications platform that caters to enterprise clients.
In an effort to compete with rivals like Twilio, Bird is introducing a range of new products and implementing significant price reductions.
Robert Vis, co-founder of Bird, explained the rationale behind the rebranding, stating that he aims to build a long-lasting company that will thrive for the next 50 years.
He emphasized that the scooter-sharing company, also named Bird, was not a suitable long-term brand, hence the decision to reposition the cloud communications platform under the Bird name.
Bird’s CRM services for marketing, sales, and payments, which operate through email, SMS, and WhatsApp, will see a drastic pricing cut.
The company announced a discount of 40-90%, with SMS services being offered at a 90% reduced rate. Bird aims to challenge Twilio, a major player in the market, which reportedly generates $1.3 billion in profit from SMS services.
By significantly lowering prices, Bird intends to disrupt the market and potentially drive down Twilio’s profit margins.
In a marketing campaign, Bird plans to quote Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, with the slogan “your margins are my opportunity.”
The move is aimed at capturing a portion of the SMS and email market currently dominated by companies like Twilio, Klaviyo, and Attentive.
By offering competitive pricing, Bird hopes to attract customers who would otherwise spend significantly more on similar services.
Robert Vis stated that Bird’s strategy goes beyond simply providing access to communication channels. The company believes that the ability to leverage those channels effectively is of greater importance.
By reducing channel costs, Bird aims to emphasize the value it adds on top of the communication channels, differentiating itself from other providers in the space.
Furthermore, Vis recently gained attention on LinkedIn with a post expressing his interest in acquiring companies with Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and/or Payment Institutions (PI) licenses.
This announcement further highlights Bird’s ambition to expand its services and strengthen its position in the market.
Source: TechCrunch
