Wireless Watch for March 25, 2004
Yahoo! Autos uses billboard to promote redesign; J-Mobile to license Enpocket engine; Mobliss begins initiatives for PGA and Nick.
Yahoo Autos Uses Billboard to Promote Redesign
To promote the redesign of its automotive section, Yahoo has launched an interactive video game on the Reuters billboard in Times Square. Using their cell phones, residents and tourists will be able to play a driving video game in the heart of Manhattan. The initiative begins this week and runs through April 22.
J-Mobile to License Enpocket Engine
Enpocket has licensed its mobile marketing engine to Japanese wireless ad firm J-Mobile, which will use the technology to support campaigns sent to subscribers of Vodafone K.K., a carrier in Japan.
J-Mobile will use the Enpocket engine to produce various media products and to deliver ads to Vodafone K.K.’s approximately 12.8 million users. Enpocket said the deal demonstrates the global reach and range of services now provided by the Enpocket engine.
Mobliss Begins Initiatives for PGA and Nick
Mobliss is supporting wireless content and SMS voting initiatives for the PGA Tour and Nickelodeon.
The PGA Tour tapped the mobile media and marketing firm to build an application enabling golf fans to access Tour information from their wireless devices. Starting Q2 2004, wireless subscribers will be able to view real-time leaderboards, statistics and photos of the action.
For Nickelodeon, Mobliss is enabling wireless text messaging to enhance audience interactivity with the 17th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards, taking place on April 3. Voting began on March 1 and will continue up until the end of the event, allowing kids to vote while they’re watching the awards show on TV.
Video Clips: the New Ringtones?
InfoSpace Mobile entered a content agreement with imaging firm Corbis to create a series of still image and video-based products for delivery to mobile phones. The products will let consumers personalize their handsets with still and moving images using a model that has proved very successful with ringtones.
Under terms of the deal, InfoSpace Mobile will enable a portion of Corbis’ video library to be merchandised in a wireless environment. Consumers will be able to brand their mobile phones with a range of downloadable video clips, including time-lapse cinematography, backgrounds and visual effects and action sports. Additionally, InfoSpace Mobile will make some of Corbis’ images and video clips available to its distribution partners in North America.
Telephia: Teens Like Mobile
According to new research from Telephia, two thirds of mobile teens currently use wireless data services, and online gamers in particular exhibit early adopter tendencies and higher levels of satisfaction with their handset that may make them good targets for mobile applications (and ad campaigns).
