Wireless Watch for February 20, 2004

Oscar Voting Supported in New SMS Campaign

A new cross-carrier SMS campaign is inviting U.S. and Canadian film enthusiasts to predict the outcome of this year’s Oscars.

Premiere Magazine and Kargo, a strategy and branding firm focused on wireless, have tapped m-Qube to launch the common short code premium mobile program that will run for one week and culminate in the Academy Award festivities.

Print, online and in-theater advertising invite cinephiles to predict the award winners by sending a text message to a common short code. Participants receive a category prediction ballot and breaking movie alerts via their mobile phones. They then vote in each Oscars category, one at time, for a chance to win a trip to Hollywood, a Loews movie pass for one year, Sony Electronics devices, movie tickets or soundtrack recordings.

“Premiere’s content transfers extremely well into the wireless world and the mobile channel provides our customers with great access to our archives,” said Paul Turcotte, VP and Publisher of Premiere.

The revenue generating mobile campaign is available to subscribers of eleven North American wireless carriers. Messages are billed at a premium rate.

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Premium News Alerts from ABC

News alerts from ABC’s digital media division are now available to mobile subscribers. A new premium text messaging service, which costs $1.99 per month and is supported by Telenor Mobile Interactive, is now sending out breaking and political news alerts to opt-in users via SMS. So far, T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless have signed on to carry the offering.

“These alerts help mobile consumers stay current with developments in the biggest news stories of the day,” said Bernard Gershon, senior VP and general manager of ABC News Digital.