UK-based MePlease has officially launched a unique mobile social platform that makes it easy for businesses to connect with their customers – and easy for customers to choose which restaurants and shops can send treats and special offers to their mobiles. The platform is capable of supporting mobile voting, competitions, customer feedback, location check-ins and promotional offers.

PizzaExpress is one of the first organisations working with MePlease; it's using the technology to enable interactive customer voting during the final round of a 'Create Your Pizza Challenge' from mid-October. Customers will be prompted to text their vote for one of five new pizzas they would like to see on the menu. These SMS text votes can also be posted directly to Facebook.

John Sullivan, Director of Group IT at PizzaExpress parent company Gondola Group, said "We really like that MePlease enables us to directly engage with our customers using their trusted one-to-one communication channel. Recently over 10% of our MePlease users texted in for a special lunch event at our Richmond restaurant; this response rate was very encouraging and happened within 15 minutes of sending the initial call to action."

Unlike other mobile location or voucher-based applications, MePlease works on any mobile phone and can connect with any business. Although it's easy for users to share MePlease treats and invitations with friends, consumers remain in control of which companies they hear from – and how often they receive messages.

Current MePlease clients include PizzaExpress, Cineworld, Jack Wills, Nimax Theatre Group, Jongleurs Comedy Clubs, Ted Baker, Waxy O'Connor's pubs, 333 Holdings, Kick Fitness, Tonicity Spa, William Thomas Hair, House Keepers London, Got Fitness and Fancy Dress. The company, which was founded in May 2009, recently raised £1.3 million in financing.