“Vodafone has signed up to be the first sponsor of an Australian mobile soap opera in an ambush marketing deal designed to put its brand on the handsets of Telstra, Optus and 3 customers and to persuade them to switch carriers.” Solid Gold. Several comic-strip style mobile soaps are likely to be launched in Australia this year, some of them carrier-specific and some not. “Customers of all the mobile carriers will be able to view Random Place if they have a phone with access to the mobile internet. Subscribers will be sent an SMS containing a link to a mobile internet site, which will enable them to view the soap. Vodafone-branded billboards and prize offers will appear throughout the mobile soap content during the series, which will run for 26 weeks.” And people wondered why carriers insisted on a walled garden…
There are other sponsors from a variety of industries, so it seems like a pretty good business. The show hopes to attract 100,000 subscribers paying $2.50 a week (only $1.50 for Vodafone customers).
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–FanTESStic Mobile Soap Moves Down Under
–Twentieth TV, Verizon dial up mobile soaps
–Almost Hollywood Mobile Soap
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