Tink Labs expands Handy smartphone-rental service, appoints marketing head

Foxon was formerly managing director of Quintessentially Lifestyle Greater China. She will drive all marketing and business-development strategies for the brand in Hong Kong and Singapore while looking for opportunities for expansion, projects and partnerships globally, according to Tink Labs.

For S$15/HK$68 per day, the company's service, dubbed Handy, rents users a Samsung Galaxy Note or Galaxy Nexus with unlimited data, unlimited local calling and unlimited international calls to a number of countries.

Of more interest to brands, the device comes loaded with a curated city guide and a dedicated area offering travellers access to local deals and discounts.

"We're on track to meet our expected daily rental rates and volumes," Foxon told Campaign Asia-Pacific. "And we're hitting device circulation numbers that will also be of interest to our advertising and merchant partners."

Eventually, Tink Labs expects 30 per cent of revenue for the service to come from partners, with the rest coming from the device rentals, Foxon said.

The service launched in September in Hong Kong and is just now launching in Singapore, where a location on Orchard Road opened yesterday. In Hong Kong, the service has a location at the Star Ferry pier through a partnership with the Hong Kong Tourism Board, and the brand has also signed on as the official mobile phone provider for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, which will help with reaching out to incoming trade show attendees. In addition, Handy will be the official smartphone of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, with incoming players for the tournament all receiving Handy phones while they're in town.

Foxon said she relishes the challenge of marketing the service, which cuts across wide demographics, including both tourists and business travellers, as well as geographic boundaries. The top markets so far, besides the two cities themselves, are Taiwan, mainland China, Australia, India, and the US. The device is offered in English as well as both traditional and simplified Chinese.

"The product is aimed at travellers coming into the country, so the challenge is how to reach them before they arrive," Foxon said. To help, Tink Labs expects to name a PR partner next week. "We're trying to do things lean, but given the reach of the customer base, we do obviously need the strong reach of an agency," she said.