Mike at The Feature has been getting grumpy about the hype over the 2 million sms entries for the 144,000 tickets for the Live 8 concert. These days, he opines, is this really news?
Well, it’s certainly an indication of how mainstream sms is and maybe it’s not big news to the mobile aficionados who read The Feature and this blog. But, let’s not forget that just because we “get” it, there’s many, many business people, politicians and ordinary people who don’t understand quite how important texting is and Harvey Goldsmith (the promoter) is to be congratulated for putting sms – the people’s preference – into the heart of the event.
It would also be very interesting to see a breakdown of sms v’s the postal entry routes. I’m guessing 90%+. Even two years ago this would have been unthinkable.
But the really clever use of sms, in my opinion, is Geldorf’s decision to allow the Dinosaurs of Rock, Status Quo (who opened Live Aid back in 1985) to play, if enough people sent in an sms (via Textually). This has been eagerly picked up by the British tabloids, urging their readers to sms at £1.50 a time ($2.71).
In a memorable masterstroke of copywriting genius, Sir Bob said:
“Just send us your f***ing txts and we’ll get them on.” That alone makes him worthy of his Knighthood.
But seriously, this stunt was an inspired piece of marketing brilliance and uses sms as a very neat interaction and fundraising tool. Status Quo were just the right act to choose, being loved passionately, but by the right sort of audience. “Vote for Sir Cliff” perhaps would have generated more sms traffic, but would betray the cool kudos of the event.
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