Interactive soap opera released for free on mobile TV, by 20:20 London, Incentivated and the COI

20:20 London, Incentivated and the Central Office of Information are launching soap opera THMBNLS. It’s an interactive ad-funded mobile soap opera for the Department of Children, Schools and Families. The twenty two weekly episodes will be available exclusively via the mobile internet and will be free to download. 

THMBNLS follows the lives of six teenagers, and is centered around raising awareness of sexual health. Viewers, who can register at www.thmbnls.mobi, can access the show from six operator portals. 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin and Vodafone are all carrying the soap.

Interactive?

The usual interaction between viewers and TV takes the form of voting. THMBNLS takes it a bit further. Correspondents names can appear in characters’ mobile phone books, or on posters and graffiti featured in soap opera. Viewers can even sign up for voice messages from THMBNLS characters.

Free?

THMBNLS is completely free to receive.  Following negotiations between Incentivated and the five UK mobile networks, all data charges are zero-rated, including SMS alerts and WAP browsing sessions for viewers on contract and pay as you go plans.

From the release:

Emma Cowan at COI commented, “It’s a really exciting project as it enables us to reach the audience in a powerful and personal way. Because it’s unchartered territory, it’s been challenging to work with so many parties and agencies to ensure that it’s free to the user, as well as get the word out to the audience to get them to sign up.”

Peter Riley, Creative Partner at 20:20 London, commented, “Thmbnls is cutting-edge, realistic and relevant to young people. Viewers can personally interact with the characters and the issues they’re facing in a way that’s not been achieved before now. This is taking mobile broadcast to a whole new level.”

Jonathan Bass, Managing Director of Incentivated, added, “This is one of the more demanding briefs we’ve seen, and one we’ve enjoyed solving.  It’s a privilege to bring to life an ingenious idea which harnesses the power of mobile in delivering rich interactivity to a tech savvy audience.”

What we think?

This is the second socially-aware mobile campaign we’ve seen this week from Incentivated. It’s great to see the medium being picked for these kinds of mass campaigns, especially at a governmental level. I’m not optimistic about the success for this campaign in delivering it’s message to the “youth”, but it’s very existence is a good sign. And it’s interactive nature really takes advantage of the personal nature of mobile TV - it’s not just people sitting in front of a box. It’s people with electronic identities interacting with the content in a recognisable way.