China Film tied up with Mobile Internet Group (MIG), a provider of mobile applications technology, to promote the recent release of the Jackie Chan movie, 'The Tuxedo', among mainland youth. The wireless drive, covering the promotion and distribution of mobile applications and content, will run for up to eight weeks. SonyEricsson, outdoor media company Tom.com, a selection of newspapers and about 600 cinemas are involved in the promotion.
The promotion entails driving wireless content for The Tuxedo, including a short message service (SMS)-based contest, ring-tones, logos, picture messages, chat rooms and full-colour WAP content. It also includes a multi-player 'Celebrity dating' game that allows users to go on a virtual date with the movie's main star.
According to Richard Robinson, managing director of MIG, the wireless content was made accessible to more than 185,000 mobile phone subscribers in China. Content was also customised for the new SonyEricsson T68i model, allowing users to see colour images that are unavailable on 2G phones.
"When you consider there are more than 200 million mobile phone subscribers in China, it's a compelling figure you can't afford to ignore," said Robinson.
"SMS has become ubiquitous in China although admittedly there are limitations to the technology. For example, it can only take 70 characters in Chinese and plain text. But, at the same time, it really allows you to communicate with the target audience one-to-one, and we try to leverage on that to reach the wireless community and take advantage of the medium's viral effect to hook more people through various channels."
He added that the wireless component of the campaign was promoted through outdoor advertising launched in December for the blockbuster's release in China. "We kept the entry point simple so that mobile users had to send in just three letters - 'YWF' (Chinese pin yin for tuxedo) - to enter the contest," said Robinson.
To encourage participation, the promoters offered a Sony Ericsson T68i mobile phone prize for the competition.
The campaign followed an earlier wireless drive, including a virtual game, to promote the launch of the 'Spiderman' film in China.
"That was the first full-scale wireless promotion of a movie release for Sony Pictures in China," added Robinson.