Publishing company Harper Collins is taking its first steps into the mobile marketing arena by linking with full service mobile agency Candyspace to trial a mobile portal for its online literary forum for writers, editors and readers, 5th Estate. The portal, which Harper Collins says is the first of its kind produced by any publisher, delivers exclusive 5th Estate content, including free audiobook downloads, to mobile handsets.
Our audience is passionate about reading and writing and it makes sense to experiment with alternative ways to interact with this community,” says Kate Hyde, Senior Editor at Harper Collins. Candyspace has helped us a create a destination for people who like to think, listen and read about books even when they are out and about. Initial feedback has been positive and we are genuinely excited by the opportunity.”
Candyspace MD Tom Thorne adds:
The literary world provides a rich vein of content which hasnt been successfully tapped until now. Literature has great narrative, fabulous characters and iconic imagery, all of which could provide compelling content for a mobile campaign.
As well as the audio book downloads and updated blog entries, readers can download free wallpaper based on classic book artwork; videos featuring authors like Nigel Slater and Gautam Malkani; and a live feed to all the book news headlines as the stories break.
To access the portal, text the word 5th to 80880.