Press release: Mobile Interactive Group and O2 Launch NFC Technology at O2 Wireless Festival

O2 Wireless 2008

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) teams up with O2 to provide NFC (Near Field Communication) at the O2 Wireless Festival taking place in London’s Hyde Park from 3rd – 6th July 2008. MIG’s production team will also power content and editorial for the Wireless mobile internet site and programme touch screen kiosks around the site to enable mobile PIN code redemptions.

NFC
On a daily basis, 400 ‘random acts of kindness’ will be presented to O2 customers on entry to the O2 Wireless Festival in the form an NFC wristband, giving avid music fans the opportunity to engage with mobile interactive services and benefit from a host of privileges including:

Exclusive access to the O2 bus – Wristbands are scanned via handheld PDAs to give access to a static viewing platform offering unrivalled views of headlining acts on the main stage
Free cocktail in The Stage Bar – Festival goers are invited to scan their wristband at a fixed point NFC terminal in The Stage Bar to receive their refreshment
Access to exclusive VIP toilets and cloakroom – Entry gained with successful scan of wrist band via handheld PDAs

In addition to the 400 ‘random acts of kindness’, 100 NFC-enabled O2 customers, comprising students and journalists, will be trialling the NFC technology at the O2 Wireless Festival using the Nokia 6131 handset.

Production
MIG’s mobile production team will be powering the mobile internet site (WAP site) and are responsible for overall site management. The site content includes exclusive backstage gossip, promotion of the SMS alert services, maps and running orders. MIG’s mobile production unit will work with Live Nation and MTV to produce exclusive performance videos and interviews downloadable via the mobile internet site. Additional premium content only available to O2 customers includes wallpapers and realtones.

Installations
To encourage early arrival at the event ‘O2 Afternoons’ have been designed to reward music fans with a £5 food voucher. To enter, customers text the keyword ‘WIRELESS’ to 62002, and in response each participant receives a unique code redeemable via touch-screen kiosks in the Blueroom Bar. O2 Angels will then hand out food vouchers to successful entrants on a first come, first served basis.

Anthony Nelson, Director of Business Development, MIG said: “MIG has been providing interactive experiential mobile services to the O2 Wireless Festival since June 2006. The festival is the perfect environment to showcase the latest innovations in the market place, such as NFC technology and mobile PIN code redemption via touch-screen kiosks, and demonstrate the strengths of mobile as an activation tool to today’s increasingly mobile savvy customers.”

Mark Stevenson, Head of Sponsorship at O2 UK said: “We are pleased to be working with MIG again to deliver innovative interactive services to our customers at The O2 Wireless Festival. We’re using new technologies to deliver great experiences to our customers – which we believe is what technology is for.”