Sneak Extends SMS Offering To Boost Revenue
Emap’s new teen weekly Sneak is extending its SMS offering with the launch of a new premium rate celebrity gossip service.
The service, which is being run through mobile marketing company Flytxt, launches later this month and is intended to generate revenue by tapping into the nation’s current obsession with celebrity. Readers subscribing to the service via adverts in the magazine will receive two SMS celebrity gossip updates per week, each costing 25p.
Commenting on the initiative, Andrea Kilbourne, managing director of Emap Performance, said: “The Sneak text club will be a must have service for teenage girls. We’ll be offering them hot off the press gossip on their favourite celebrities plus promotions and competitions.”
Carsten Boers, head of client services at Flytxt, added: “Emap is showing a thorough understanding of its teenage audience by offering a gossip service to teens via their mobile phones, which is by far the most popular possession in a teenage life.”
According to Flytxt, SMS penetration levels can be as high as 80% for a teenage audience, with the average teenager sending between 10 and 20 text messages each day.
Emap launched the Sneak text club earlier this year to coincide with the magazine’s entry into the market (see Sneak To Offer SMS Interactivity). Emap is yet to report an initial circulation for the title, however, Sneak‘s celebrity focussed older sister, Heat, experienced an impressive 103.4% year on year increase in circulation, according to the ABC results for the six-months ending in June 2002.
Overall, the celebrity sector is looking notably buoyant and Emap recently announced plans to launch a new showbiz title aimed at a slightly more mature audience (see Emap Set To Launch New Celebrity Magazine). IPC also intends to release a monthly spin-off of its weekly celebrity focussed Now (see IPC Hopes For Now-style Success With StarStyle).
Emap: 01733 568 900 www.emap.co.uk
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