Campaign Aims to Boost Viewer Participation and Loyalty Using Mobile Phone Interactivity
New York City – July 19, 2004 – Enpocket, the leading mobile marketing solutions provider, is enabling viewers of The History Channel to interact in real-time with two new shows, Decisive Battles and Command Decisions, using their mobile phones. The shows première on Friday, July 23rd at 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, respectively.
Following the success of Enpocket’s work on the BARBARIANS program, The History Channel is promoting the two new series with viewing reminders, contests, and interactive game play, via text messages (SMS) delivered through the Enpocket Engine, the world’s most widely used mobile marketing software.
Participants can sign up to receive texts at www.history.com or register via mobile phone by texting the word ‘HISTORY’ to the cross-carrier short code 84288 (the equivalent of THC-TV), advertised on television promos and in the press.
Decisive Battles recreates three-dimensional views of ancient battles and puts viewers right into the action using computer gaming technology from the highly anticipated new video game Rome: Total War. During the show, viewers can answer questions about battles on their mobile phones to win one of fifty copies of Rome: Total War or the grand prize – a Panasonic Digital Home Entertainment System.
From Greek Wars to the Gulf War, Command Decisions puts the viewer in the general’s chair. Each week, participants receive the show’s questions on their mobile phones and make critical decisions during historic battles to test themselves against the rest of the viewing audience.
“Mobile is an effective way to touch our audience at critical moments before and during broadcasts,” said Mike Mohamad, Senior Vice President, Marketing, The History Channel. “The Enpocket Engine has enabled The History Channel to instantaneously engage viewers with these innovative shows. This ability combined with Enpocket’s expertise in delivering compelling mobile interactions is helping us drive heightened viewer loyalty and increased participation with our programming.”
“The BARBARIANS program demonstrated the power of SMS for driving viewer figures before a show and The History Channel is now taking media interaction to the next level with Decisive Battles and Command Decisions,” said Jonathon Linner, CEO of Enpocket. “Using SMS to infuse interactivity with educational programming, The History Channel puts the viewer directly into the heat of each battle.”
About The History Channel
Now reaching more than 86 million Nielsen subscribers, The History Channel®, “Where the Past Comes Alive®,” brings history to life in a powerful manner and provides an inviting place where people experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past. The History Channel received the prestigious Governor’s Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network’s “Save Our History®” campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel web site is located at www.HistoryChannel.com. For the Press: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at www.historychannelpress.com.
About Enpocket
Enpocket’s consumer-driven mobile solutions make marketing more effective. The heart of the offering is the Enpocket Engine, the world’s most widely used wireless marketing software. The brain of the system is Enpocket Insight, the richest source of actionable consumer data from campaigns and general mobile usage in the marketplace. Using both, Enpocket Solutions – from advertising to promotions and relationship marketing – optimize relevance and response so that a low cost wireless contact strategy can improve performance across all media channels. Mobile can enhance any marketing program, whether driving sales, developing loyalty or saving costs. To learn more see www.enpocket.com. Enpocket is headquartered in New York and has offices Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Minnesota, London, Helsinki and Milan.
Enpocket clients include: Levi’s, Nike, McDonalds, Orange, BBC, Volvo, HSBC, Radiolinja, NHS, Turner, Vodafone, Fox, Honda, Sony, Universal Pictures, Expedia, Sonera Zed, Warner Brothers, T-Mobile, Cadbury’s, Coca-Cola, P&G, JCPenney, KFC, O2, Doritos, HP, Fidelity, GM, CompUSA and Mastercard.
