TNT/ Verizon

Background:

In an effort to create new interactive services for customers, Verizon Wireless and TNT joined forces to offer armchair pundits a chance to outsmart the TNT Crew of legendary basketball players and experts. Enpocket provided TNT and Verizon with a mobile marketing solution that invited participation from fans and enriched the overall viewer experience. NBA Basketball fans go one-on-one with the TNT Crew using their mobile phones.

Objectives:

• Bring added value to Verizon Wireless’ subscribers with exclusive services
• Keep TNT viewers engaged in the NBA outside of game time
• Encourage interaction between NBA basketball fans and the TNT Crew
• Build a mobile community for future promotional opportunities

Solution:

Enpocket delivered an exclusive text-to-win sweepstake promotion to Verizon Wireless subscribers. Viewers opted-in to the sweepstakes by texting the keyword “NBA” to the short code “TNT” (868), which was advertised on air before the game. Each Thursday, during the NBA halftime report, TNT presenters such as Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson announced their predictions for the second game, and on screen banners again invited users to take part. Viewers then made their predictions by SMS message; those who decided not to use their mobile phone had the option of voting online. Both SMS and email messages were fed into the Enpocket Engine that automatically polled responses.

If the fan and the TNT Crew both picked the team that won the second game, the fan was entered into a weekly drawing to win NBA apparel. If the fan picked the winning team and the TNT Crew did not, the fan was entered to win the grand prize - a trip for two to an NBA Finals game. The campaign has been a huge success so far with thousands of subscribers opting into the sweepstakes, and taking on the likes of TNT Crew members, Barkley and Johnson.

Results:

The main achievements of the project include:

• High customer satisfaction levels – 90% of opted-in fans participated in weekly picks
• Improved dialogue - more than half of subscribers asked to receive communication from the NBA and TNT after the sweepstakes was completed
• Steady growth of participants – the number of fans grew by 343% in under two months
• High mobile uptake – on average 85% voted by SMS each week, versus 15% for email
• Enhanced brand loyalty for Verizon Wireless, TNT, and NBA
  

“What better way is there to engage armchair pundits than to allow them to go head-to-head with
legends such as Barkley and Johnson?,” asked Jim Straight, vice president of data & multimedia
services for Verizon Wireless. “This isn’t just another sweepstake. Enpocket has devised a mobile
campaign that allows for instant viewer polling and extends the service we provide beyond traditional wireless services.”