Mobile content has been riding the wave of popular culture since mobile phones first hit the scene. Initially mobile content was mainly capitalizing on popular music and visuals, and ringtones, wallpapers and visual themes became big sellers over time as the entertainment industry underwent its characteristic twists and turns. New artists, characters and actors rotated into the popularity spotlight, alongside new singles, albums, films and television shows, and mobile content based on or inspired by them followed every step of the way as their rapacious fanbases leapt upon everything they could get their hands on to customize their own mobile experience.
It’s exactly this model of popularity that AT&T are attempting – and not without success – to capitalize on with a slew of The Twilight Saga: New Moon –related mobile material. The marketing blitz for the second film in a series of adaptations of Stephanie Meyers’ popular quasi-Gothic vampire romance novels has been relentless since the lead-up for the first film, Twilight, which screened some time ago. Now, with the sequel “New Moon” arriving in theaters this month, AT&T have thrown their weight behind providing mobile content for the handsets of teens and tweens [and teens and tweens at heart] everywhere.
A special division at AT&T is tasked with marketing material to young people, and the mobile content provider has now teamed up with mobile product producer 2ergo to put together a new site solely for the recently-launched movie. Fans of the series, characters, actors and actresses can access the site for various content items, whether ringtones clipped from the movie soundtrack, which can be used on their handsets, or songs heard in the movie, which they can listen to online. Among the clips available are Death Cab for Cutie’s “Meet Me at the Equinox” and Anya Marina’s “Satellite Heart”, both prominent singles off of the soundtrack album for the new film. There are also plenty of gaming apps available, as well as wallpaper images of young leads Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who feature heavily in the films as Edward and Bella, respectively.
AT&T have also expanded their online presence for “New Moon” to include a dedicated page on the popular social networking site, Facebook, including various as well as a “Create Your Own Coven” quiz connected to the company’s A-List with Rollover plan. One of AT&T’s “Youth Brand Ambassadors” – lucky enough to join the film cast at an LA press junket – would be featured on the Facebook page, as well as another Youth Brand Ambassador sent to cover the film’s Hollywood red carpet premiere.
This is the latest manifestation of AT&T’s typical annual advertising juggernaut – the company spent $1.65 billion on advertising in 2008 and $876 million in the first eight months alone of this year, not counting online ad expenses (Nielsen). However, all that money has been smart money, with smart moves like catering to multiple demographics – beyond just the teen and tween one catered to by the youth division – with offerings for the Twilights Saga, which “appeals to a variety of target demographics for AT&T–tweens and teens, college students, young adults and beyond,” according to Chris Schembri, Vice President of media services for AT&T.
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