Blazon

Blazon is an email and SMS marketing platform for businesses and marketing agencies, sold in South African rand by Vanguard Software Solution Pty Ltd, trading as Blazon. The home page describes it as "a powerful email and SMS marketing platform for businesses and marketing agencies of all sizes" that lets marketers "plan, execute, automate and measure targeted email and SMS campaigns from one integrated platform." Sales and support are listed in Cape Town, and the copyright line runs from 2011. Blazon pairs the software with services, "From self-service technology to fully managed services," so a customer can run campaigns alone or hand them to Blazon's team.

What a sender gets

Email. Campaigns are built in a drag-and-drop designer that produces responsive emails, starting from a library of pre-built templates or from scratch, "no HTML or coding required." Content blocks and layouts can be changed element by element, and a built-in link tester checks every button and URL before sending. The key features page lists scheduling and recurring campaigns, personalization and dynamic content, personalized subject lines, the sender's own from name and address, attachments up to 10 MB, and dynamic countdown timers for time-limited offers. Unsubscribes and bounces are handled automatically. Reports cover delivery, opens, clicks, unopened, not clicked and bounces, and the home page adds shares to the engagement metrics shown in real time.

SMS. SMS is a full second channel rather than an add-on. There is an SMS template designer with a real-time character and message length calculator, multi-part messages for long texts, two-way messaging with an integrated inbox, and reverse-billed messaging. SMS campaigns can be scheduled and repeated, personalized with dynamic content, and carry trackable short links with click tracking; reports show delivery, clicks and bounces. Blazon also offers Short Code messaging, and the home page suggests inbound Short Code campaigns as a way to grow a database and generate revenue. Visitors can send themselves a test SMS from the home page.

Customer data. Data management is where Blazon puts much of its emphasis. The platform is "purpose-built to analyse, process and manage large, complex consumer databases." Customer data structures are fully customizable, segmentation is multi-dimensional and can use behavioral criteria, and a unified single customer view sits over the data along with subscriber engagement and audit history. Built-in email verification flags invalid, risky or undeliverable addresses before sending, over 300 validation and cleansing rules correct common errors, and a domain correction feature fixes commonly mistyped domains. Data can be matched, merged and de-duplicated, and imported from CSV or XLSX files on Windows or Mac. One client testimonial singles out this side of the product as "especially useful with database management and optimization."

Agencies and multi-tenant access. Blazon is built for agencies, resellers and businesses managing several clients. It supports unlimited tenants, unlimited users and unlimited contacts, with tenant-level data isolation and role-based access controls. Single sign-on gives "One Login to Access All Your Tenants": an account manager picks a customer and goes straight to that customer's campaigns, templates, reports and databases, while a client can be given access to its own tenant only. Usage and billing reports are available per tenant.

Services

Blazon sells several services around the platform:

• Bulk email, SMS and Short Code sending for large volumes.
• Email template design from PSD and PDF artwork, including HTML and Outlook-compatible OFT templates, tested across desktop and web email clients, mobile devices and spam filters before sending.
• Campaign management, where a Campaign Manager collects the elements needed, sends regular status updates and runs the email and SMS campaigns.
• Microsite and landing page development, including RSVP forms and surveys built from PSD or PDF artwork.
• Support covering marketing strategy, customer data, onboarding, creative, template development, technical help and training.

Plans and pricing

All prices are in rand and exclude VAT, and every plan is subject to Blazon's Abuse Prevention and Fair Usage Policy.

• Free, "free forever" at ZAR 0 a month: 2,500 contacts, 1 database and 1 user, with email, verification and SMS credits bought pay-as-you-go. The Blazon logo stays on. The page calls it "Ideal for exploring the platform and sending smaller campaigns."
• Pay-As-You-Go, starting at ZAR 285 a month: "Pay only for the subscribers you have", with contact tiers from 2,500 to 1,000,000, unlimited databases and users, the logo removed, and email, verification and SMS credits bought as needed. It is aimed at "occasional or variable email and SMS campaigns."
• Fixed Plan, from ZAR 325 a month, with 10% off when paid annually: "Unlimited email sending for a predictable monthly fee", unlimited email verification credits, unlimited databases and users, the logo removed, and SMS still pay-as-you-go. Contact tiers run from 2,500 to 1,000,000.

Email credit bundles fall from 7.00c per email (R 350 for 5,000) to 2.00c per email (R 20,000 for 1,000,000). SMS bundles fall from 25.00c per message (R 250 for 1,000) to 16.00c (R 160,000 for 1,000,000). "Credits Never Expire", so bulk credits stay active with no expiry date.

Clients and support

The home page quotes clients including Protea Hotels by Marriott, CropLife South Africa, Fancourt, Cantaloupe Digital and iKineo, and names events such as Bierfest, the Wine Show and Tough Mudder through one reviewer. A Marriott International marketing manager in South Africa says Blazon has supported Protea Hotels and Prokard Explorer "for many years," and a digital marketer at Cantaloupe Digital rates it highly "in terms of deliverability, reporting, and render testing." Several testimonials praise quick, personal support and the team's willingness to help customers who do not work in HTML. The site has a contact form for sales and support.

Who it suits

Blazon fits South African businesses that want email and SMS from one account, with rand pricing, credits that never expire and the option to hand campaigns to a local team. Agencies and resellers get multi-tenant management with a single login and client-level access, and companies with large, messy consumer databases get the verification, cleansing and de-duplication tools the site stresses. Hospitality, events and consumer brands appear among the testimonials. A small sender can start on the free plan with 2,500 contacts and buy credits as needed. Businesses looking for a large app marketplace or a developer-first API will not find either described on the site.