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Content At Center Stage
11/3/08: When evaluating deals, AT&T looks for content that it can pipe through handsets, its Blue Room online portal and other distribution channels.
“Content continues to play an evolving but ever-increasing role with our sponsorships,” McGhee said.
As an example of the company’s heightened appetite for content, he pointed to six-month-old AT&T Mobile TV, which allows consumers to watch streaming TV on their wireless phones. “It’s a very cool application, and it will be available on more handsets in 2009.”
AT&T places content into four categories:
• Video content. The most important type, said McGhee, who looks for compelling, exclusive material
• Downloadable content. This includes graphics, music, images and other content that can be used in games and to create wallpaper and ringtones.
• Browsing content. Content that can be accessed via an Internet browser on handsets equipped with WAP functionality.
• Messaging content. The opportunity to interact with a property, such as voting platforms around American Idol and the AT&T ESPN All-America Player of the Week award.
Recent examples of AT&T’s use of content obtained through sponsorship relationships include:
USA Basketball. AT&T offered exclusive video of the selection of the men’s Olympic team, its exhibition game highlights and interviews with coaches and players through multiple channels including www.ATTBlueRoom.com/TeamUSA, 3G handsets equipped with AT&T CV video technology, and AT&T U-Verse.
Beijing Summer Olympic Games. The company streamed footage from the Games to its wireless customers’ phones. “Because of our USOC deal and media buy on NBC, we were the only provider able to show exclusive Olympic content on our handsets,” McGhee said.
Vans Warped Tour. On the music front, the company leveraged its presenting sponsorship of the Warped Tour with multiple content-driven programs, including an on-site promotion that allowed attendees to program custom-made ringtones directly on their mobile phones.