London, UK; 17th March 2009: The much awaited return of the ‘King of Pop’- Michael Jackson – will see mobile technology used by AEG Live to manage the presale registration process for concert ticket sales.
Tanla Mobile has been selected as AEG Live’s partner to provide a mobile short code and be involved in a mobile direct response campaign to allow fans to pre-register for tickets, receive event updates and enter competitions. Fans were also able to pre-register via web which Tanla was not involved in.
The mobile campaign means fans can register their interest for tickets before they are put on sale by simply texting ‘MJ’ to 81707. Using Tanla’s Campaign Manager platform, PINs are then sent free to all those who register via mobile which can be used ahead of general on sale date to get their tickets, subject to availability.
The campaign went live when Jackson arrived in London and has already attracted global attention as the concerts are said by Jackson himself to be his last in the UK. Dates will be further publicised through an extensive media schedule, including the UK’s first TV commercial for a music artist to run the entire three and a half minutes of an ad break on Sunday night on ITV1, further supported by press adverts, billboards, tube posters and radio.
Speaking about their appointment to manage the campaign, Gautam Sabharwal, director at Tanla Mobile, said: “This campaign highlights the benefits of mobile marketing, providing personalised marketing to consumers, which appeals to a wide demographic. We are seeing the increasing use of mobile moving from a marketing ‘like to do’ to a ‘must do’ for all types of brands. The breadth of customers we are working with is further confirmation that mobile is rapidly being seen as a powerful, cost effective and highly targeted way to communicate with an audience.”
Amy Farrant, Marketing Manager at AEG LIVE, said: “The return of Michael Jackson is huge news for his fans and the music industry alike. Initially announcing 10 dates, starting in July 2009, we anticipated that demand for tickets would be high. We looked to mobile as a way to ensure that real fans were given the opportunity to register their interest in tickets. Tanla Mobile has proved to be a reliable, flexible and responsive partner. They understood our aims from the outset and worked tirelessly to make it work.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:
Tanla Mobile
Tanla is a global provider of mobile commerce, mobile marketing, mobile entertainment and mobile internet solutions to the Telecommunications, Media and Digital Content industries. Tanla specialises in developing customised mobile applications, platforms and services for organisations who want to create a mobile strategy or channel.
Tanla Mobile has revenue-sharing partnerships and messaging connectivity with global mobile operators and delivers services in Europe, North America and Asia. The company provides interactive platforms, 3G video calling, interactive TV, campaign management, content management, mobile payments and global messaging services, enabling brands to launch end-to-end commercial mobile services.
Tanla OY, Finland (formerly Openbit Oy) is recognized as a leading provider of solutions that seamlessly integrate on-device payment and mobile application rights management, with an installed base of tens of millions of handsets worldwide. Tanla Oy has been ranked 2nd in the Technology Fast 50 Finland 2008 program.
Tanla is listed on the National & Bombay stock exchanges in India and was recently awarded the Deloitte Fast 50 award and named as the Seventh fastest growing company in India as part of the Deloitte survey. Visit www.tanla.com and www.openbit.com for further details.
For Further information
Paul Doran
Tel: 0207 382 6215
Email: [email protected]

Distributed on behalf of Tanla Mobile by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Davis
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com