SMS Offered to "Iron Man" Fans!

May 21, 2008: "Incredible Hulk" SMS Offered to "Iron Man" Fans!

San Bruno, CA, May 21, 2008 - Apptera, the voice and visual mobile advertising company, today announced the completion of a pilot program with Ignited, an El Segundo, Calif.-based full-service marketing agency, to deliver ground-breaking in-call advertising solutions on behalf of its client, Universal Motion Pictures. When callers to a movie showtime application asked for the movie "Iron Man," they heard an audio ad for another Marvel Entertainment production, "The Incredible Hulk," coming to theaters on June 13th.

Apptera's mobile advertising technology offers contextual multimedia promotions to callers when they interact with speech-enabled movie showtime applications. In this case, when speaking the words "Iron Man," callers triggered the audio ad for "The Incredible Hulk." The ad asked the movie fan if he or she would like to receive a text-based reminder on their cell phones the day before the summer's next big hero, "The Incredible Hulk," arrives in theaters.

If a user pressed "1," he or she received an immediate confirmation message, which could include a link to the movie's mobile Website or voice portal. This text message will allow the fan to interact with the movie brand during the interim, before the requested movie comes out. Then, the day before the premiere, callers will get an SMS reminder, building the anticipation and encouraging them to see the movie on opening weekend.

Ignited, whose client Universal Studios produced "The Incredible Hulk," saw an opportunity to extend and enhance their promotional reach by leveraging Apptera's patent-pending voice and visual mobile advertising technology.

"We see a great opportunity to use Apptera's mobile-advertising technology to provide relevant, contextual advertising to movie fans," stated Megan Crowell, interactive media supervisor at Ignited, based in El Segundo, Calif. "We believe this can drive up opening weekend statistics and help generate some big buzz for our clients."

Voice ads get 5 to 10x higher click-through rates than banner ads or keyword ads and can be charged on a CPM basis or on a Cost-per-Click (CPC) basis - that is, only when a user requests the text message. Ads can also be played to those not using a cell phone since callers could also be prompted to receive a reminder telephone call instead.

"Triggering off a specific movie name to promote an associated movie title or DVD to a mobile caller is a real breakthrough that Hollywood studios should take advantage of," said Randy Haldeman, chief marketing officer for Apptera. "In the U.S., there are over 300 million mobile phones in use and over 5 million mobile calls are placed each month to movie ticketing services. Ignited recognized that and has created a first-mover advantage for their clients. Three weeks from now, on June 12th, thousands of movie fans around the country will hear their cell phones buzzing reminding them that "The Incredible Hulk" is appearing in theaters the next day. Now that's incredible."


APPTERA TECHNOLOGY VALUE:

  • In-call audio ads, triggered by geography, call-in number, movie genre, title and rating.
  • Different ads can be provisioned for mobile callers versus landline callers.
  • Reminders can be in the form of text, email, return calls or faxes.
  • Allows services to monetize call traffic and expand their business.
  • Gives agencies new marketing channels to proliferate key messages and drive sales.

RESOURCES:

  • For a demo of Apptera's mobile advertising technologies, go to www.apptera.com/demo.php


About Apptera
Apptera is a pioneer in voice & visual mobile advertising. Apptera's MobileAd Technology generates revenue for Free-411 services, social music services and movie ticketing applications. The services are provided in-call, at the exact moment a consumer is interacting with a business over the phone. Dozens of companies have adopted Apptera's technology and through these customers, more than 1,800 businesses in the entertainment, communications and retail industries use Apptera's award-winning solutions. Founded in 2001, Apptera is a privately held Silicon Valley-based technology company funded by leading venture capital firms. For additional information, visit www.apptera.com.

About Ignited
Founded in 1999, Ignited is one of the largest independent agencies in Los Angeles, offering clients a complete range of marketing and branding services, including advertising, interactive, event management, strategic planning, promotions, graphic design and media planning and buying. Clients include NBC/Universal Motion Pictures, Sony Electronics, EA Mobile, Move.com, Agility, LA Weekly, GameTap and the U.S. Army. For more information, please visit www.ignitedLA.com.