MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
September 1-15, 2005 Edition
Publisher Uses Mobile
Marketing to Promote
BestSelling Author Meg Cabot
NEW YORK, NY/8/16/05Flytxt, the leading provider of mobile marketing technology and services, today announced that they are partnering with HarperCollins Children’s Books to launch the ‘Meg Cabot Mobile Club;’ a cell phone text messaging program promoting the popular Princess Diaries series, Ready or Not sequel to All American Girl, and upcoming book, Avalon High (January 2006).
Flytxt is providing HarperCollins Children’s Books with wireless solutions and mobile marketing platforms designed to provide dynamic interaction between its younger readers and author Meg Cabot. In addition to providing an interactive channel for the author’s dedicated fan base, the Meg Cabot Mobile Club seeks to connect with new readers, by providing SMS-based promotions including sweepstakes, text-based trivia campaigns, screensavers and VoiceTones from the author.
“Meg Cabot Mobile helps us to extend our Meg Cabot brand by creating an exciting and new interactive relationship with our readers,” said James McKenzie, HarperCollins Children’s Books director of online marketing. “We look forward to rolling this technology out to Meg Cabot’s enthusiastic readership.”
Mobile programs for HarperCollins will run on all major U.S. wireless carriers including AT&T Wireless, Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint, Nextel and Verizon. HarperCollins is supporting the launch of the Meg Cabot Mobile club via advertisements on http://www.thewb.com, http://www.seventeen.com, http://www.teenpeople.com, http://www.ellegirl.com and http://www.cosmogirl.com. For additional details, visit the Meg Cabot Mobile Club at http://www.megcabot.com/mobile or text JOIN + date of birth + zip (eg JOIN 4/12/90 10021) to MEG11 (63411).
“HarperCollins Publishers is the perfect type of company to implement a mobile marketing campaign, because they have an extensive amount of dynamic content that targets a younger, active, on-the-go audience,” said Carsten Boers, co-founder and CEO of Flytxt. “We’re thrilled to work with HarperCollins to help them build a foundation of new customers, and enhance the experience for their existing customers.”
Flytxt Direct and Flytxt Publisher
To manage real-time wireless interactivity, HarperCollins Publishers will use Flytxt Direct, which is the industry’s premier platform for viewing, sending and receiving SMS and MMS, via a web-based interface with direct connection to mobile operators. Flytxt Direct incorporates the experience that Flytxt has garnered from thousands of mobile campaigns, to help users compose and send MMS messages, view incoming MMS messages, and download selections for publishing to other media.
HarperCollins Publishers will have access to real-time reports of all activities and full visibility into its mobile database of users. Via Flytxt Direct, HarperCollins will be able to target specific consumer segments and broadcast messages to users based on geographic area, preferred book titles, age, or a variety of other criteria.
HarperCollins Publishers is also using Flytxt Publisher to market and sell mobile content via a variety of protocols, including the web, WAP, xHTML, IVR, SMS, and J2ME. Flytxt Publisher is a single, easy-to-use platform for managing every aspect of content delivery: including subscription services; tracking; reporting; billing; marketing; and customer management.
About Flytxt
Based in New York, Flytxt(R) is the world’s leading mobile marketing services provider, serves a broad client base across the media, entertainment, FMCG, retail, leisure and mobile operator (carrier) industries. Flytxt’s customers include Time Inc, Hachette Filipacchi, Hearst Magazines, (this release will be widely read by the publishing trade) Pepsi, Cingular, T- Mobile, Vodafone, Chrysalis, EMAP, and Orange, who is currently leveraging an award-winning Flytxt campaign for its “Orange Wednesdays” cinema mobile couponing program. Flytxt was ranked 12th in the Sunday Times Tech Track 2004, and the company has twice been named to the Tornado Insider’s TOP 100 European companies list. Incorporated in 2000, Flytxt is headquartered in London England, and has offices in Seattle, Washington, Tampa, Florida, and New York City. For more information, visit http://www.flytxt.com.
About HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins Children’s Books is one of the leading publishers of children’s books. Respected worldwide for its tradition of publishing quality, award-winning books for young readers, HarperCollins is home to many children’s classicsCharlotte’s Web, The Chronicles of Narnia, Goodnight Moon, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Where the Wild Things Are; popular series-A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Princess Diaries. HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, one of the leading English language publishers in the world and a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NCP, NCPDP). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Visit HarperCollins Children’s Books at http://www.harperchildrens.com.
About Meg Cabot:
Meg has published over thirty novels for younger readers as well as adults, including The Princess Diaries series, The Mediator series and 1-800- WHERE-R-YOU. Meg is also the author of the young adult books All-American Girl, Nicola and the Viscount, and Victoria and the Rogue, and Teen Idol and Ready or Not. Meg also published adult contemporary romances; Boy Meets Girl, The Boy Next Door, and She Went All the Way and Every Boy’s Got One.
Film rights to The Princess Diaries were sold to Disney, and a feature length film based on the book was released in August 2001, with a sequel to the film, based on an original story written by Disney, released in summer 2004. Film rights to All-American Girl also went to Disney.
For more information visit http://www.megcabot.com and http://www.megcabotbookclub.com.
Flytxt, the Flytxt logo, Flytxt Direct, Flytxt Reward, Flytxt Publisher, and FXTrinity are trademarks or registered trademarks of Flytxt.
