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FatCow Joins Sprint and McKee Wallwork Henderson to host AdBowl 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Albuquerque, NM - Sprint joins forces with McKee Wallwork Henderson Advertising
to announce the ADBOWL , the real-time, interactive advertising ranking system
for consumers. Powered by Proteus, Openwave Systems and FatCow, the ADBOWL will
debut during the championship football game on January 26. Using a PCS Phone
or by going to www.adbowl.com viewers can judge the commercials by casting votes
for their favorite ads. The winners and losers will be announced at the end
of the game.
"Ads during this event have become a pop-culture phenomena, and many viewers
watch the game as much for the ads as for the football," said Steve McKee,
president of McKee Wallwork Henderson Advertising. "The ADBOWL is an accurate
analysis of commercials during the big game because the winners and losers are
chosen by the viewers, fans and advertising professionals alike."
"Now, Sprint wireless customers can be tailgating, traveling or catching
the football game with friends and still be able to vote for their favorite
ads," said Chip Novick, vice president of consumer marketing for the PCS
division of Sprint. "With the launch of PCS Vision from Sprint, we have
added the most advanced, yet affordable, full-color screen phones and applications,
with which customers can rank the new ads. It is another example of how Sprint
customers are doing more than just making calls with their PCS Phones."
Registered users will be notified of the ads via a text message on their
PCS Phones through an application developed by Proteus. "Using Openwave's push
technology we were able to achieve the most streamlined user experience possible,"
said Craig Dalton, director of business development for Proteus. This technology
provides a real-time interactive experience synchronized with the TV which allows
viewers to rate the ads on a scale between one and five, with 5 being a "Touchdown",
4 "Field Goal", 3 "First Down", 2 "Punt" and 1 being a "Fumble" from their keypad.
Fans can also answer football and advertising trivia throughout the game. "Interactive
television applications and mobile entertainment impact consumers' usage of
wireless data services," said Rich Wong, senior vice president of marketing
for Openwave Systems.
"It is our goal to bring fans closer to the broadcast through wireless devices.
We are able to send the viewers messages when it's time for them to vote on
the commercials," Dalton added. Sprint wireless customers have become accustomed
to voting on televised action during the NFL's regular season and the MLB World
Series where they cast votes on key moments during the game.
Along with the wireless voting, the ADBOWL.com website will be live one hour
before kickoff. In anticipation of high voter traffic volume, the website infrastructure
has been enhanced to accommodate increased traffic during the game. "FatCow's
hosting infrastructure is ready for the increase in traffic to www.adbowl.com,"
said Peter Zeismann, director of marketing for FatCow.
About Sprint
Sprint is a global communications company serving more than 26 million business
and residential customers in over 70 countries. With approximately 75,000 employees
worldwide and more than $26 billion in annual revenues, Sprint is widely recognized
for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies,
including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network
and Sprint's award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local voice
and data services in 18 states and operates the largest 100-percent digital,
nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States.
About McKee Wallwork Henderson
McKee Wallwork Henderson, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a full-service
advertising agency specializing in serving companies than need to grow fast.
Whether it's raising awareness, launching a new product, seizing market share
of securing investment capital, the agency understands the unique marketing
challenges growth companies face, and has the experience and intellectual property
to make it happen.
About Openwave
Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV) is the leading independent provider of
open software products and services for the mobile communications industry.
Openwave is a global company headquartered in Redwood City, California. For
more information, please visit www.openwave.com.
About Proteus
Proteus is a leading Internet professional services firm with offices in Washington,
D.C. and San Francisco, CA. Proteus has been developing dynamic, scalable Internet,
wireless and interactive television applications using Oracle and Java technology
since 1996. Clients who have benefited from Proteus' technology, strategy and
creative services include Fortune and Global 500 companies such as The Washington
Post, Motorola, Sprint PCS, Fox Sports, Univision Communications and ExxonMobil.
More information about Proteus can be found at www.proteus.com.
About FatCow
Founded in 1998, FatCow is a privately-held New Mexico-based company providing
web hosting for small to medium-sized businesses and individuals looking for
affordable, service oriented web hosting. With a strong commitment to customer
service and a technical infrastructure that rivals that of most large hosting
companies, FatCow has grown to host over 18,000 domains for customers in 90
countries. FatCow can be found online at www.fatcow.com.
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