March 26, 2006
Maxim Goes Mobile
THE MAY ISSUE OF MEN'S magazine Maxim will be mobile-enabled, with links in the pages to content and advertisements accessible by readers' mobile phones.
Rob Gregory, Maxim's group publisher, said the magazine's audience is a good demographic to advance mobile marketing and content. "The first wave of mobile advertising will be directed towards young males," he said. "They are the first group to embrace the technology--they're the test case for every major brand in the country that wants to embrace mobile, and when we looked at the Maxim audience, we saw we had a huge audience of young guys."
The editorial content of the May issue will include links to microsites where readers can get more content, including more photos of the Maxim models, and the opportunity to enter contests. The magazine--which hits the newsstands mid-April--will also include service pieces about how readers can use their cell phones in new and different ways.
Posted by richard ting at March 26, 2006, 10:51 AM
March 23, 2006
AirPlay to Tie Mobiles into TV Shows
San Francisco-based AirPlay is set to launch a line of mobile games that will tie into live television broadcasts. While big US networks have been slow to adopt mobile participation (about the only exception is that Fox uses SMS voting for American Idol), AirPlay will attempt to boot strap it. Because it can't control the content, it will pit players against each other:
"AirPlay expects to launch its first content category -- AirPlay Sports -- in conjunction with the start of the professional and college football seasons this Fall. The AirPlay Sports experience will allow players to make live game and play predictions from their mobile phones and -- like popular fantasy sports -- compete directly amongst groups of friends for rewards and recognition."
Besides sports, the company plans to market games for awards shows and reality TV. AirPlay was founded by a former president of TiVo, so the company is no stranger to TV. Qualcomm is an investor along with Redpoint Ventures.
