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3rd Space launches free mobile video service with Reliance Communications and achieves 300,000 plus downloads in initial 10 days

A new ad-funded video marketing campaign for Sony BraviaTV targeted at Reliance GSM WAP customers in India, resulted in 301,000 downloads in the first 10 days. The free mobile video service was launched last month by 3rd Space - a global provider of mobile entertainment and marketing services for brand advertisers – with Reliance Communications, India's leading integrated telecommunications company with over 92 million subscribers.

Key Points

*Advertising funded model points to the future of video on mobile;
*free mobile video launched on R World, the Reliance owned WAP portal focusing on 5 million GSM   WAP users;
*the portal was promoted through WAP Banners followed by an sms campaign in addition to links promoted on Mobile internet pages;
* 30,000 people a day see Sony BraviaTV mobile ad; 
*fashion and Bollywood videos prove a hit with Indian mobile users. 

Reliance Communications launched the mobile marketing campaign with Sony during the October Diwali celebrations in India, sending 700,000 SMS text messages to a cross-section of its mobile subscriber-base over ten days. The result was an unprecedented 43% conversion rate with some 30,000 recipients per day following the embedded text link to browse the Reliance mobile internet site and download an average of two free videos.

The videos, between 2 and 3.5 minutes long and featuring international fashion shows along with Bollywood concerts and film clips, were all pre-rolled by a 15 second advertisement for Sony BraviaTV.

3rd Space provided the mobile content and advertising support that enabled Reliance to deliver these popular videos free of charge to its mobile customers and free of integration and deployment costs. The text messages were sent to Reliance customers with WAP- enabled handsets and data plans, and the 3rd Space platform automatically optimised video delivery to a total of 558 different phones, making sure that everyone got outstanding video quality.

“The introduction of our ad-funded service with 3rd Space has proven the viability of future mobile marketing campaigns, bringing together popular video content and major advertising brands in India,” said Mr. Krishna Durbha, Head of Value Added Services at Reliance Communications.

“Whilst many have been sceptical about the ad-funded model on mobile, the initial conversion rate achieved with Reliance is unique in terms of magnitude and response and supports our belief that ad-funded is the future for rich multimedia delivery,” said Warwick Hill, CEO of 3rd Space. “It is clear that consumers want content for free on their mobiles – whether they don’t want to pay or simply can’t afford to pay – while brands are eager to find the best way to target millions of mobile users.”

"India is a very dynamic mobile marketplace and we are delighted to be partnering with Reliance Communications to pioneer innovation in the mobile video and advertising space. We are already talking to many more leading content providers and advertisers, as well as other global network operators,” added Hill. For a profile of Warwick Hill, please visit http://uk.linkedin.com/in/warwickhill

For further information, contact:

3rd Space Services:
Peter Rennison or Allie Andrews at PRPR
+ 44 (0)1442 245030; pr@prpr.co.uk or allie@prpr.co.uk

Reliance Communications:
Lakshman Sundar Aiyar + 99 9324110166 Chaitra Harihar + 99 9323861167

NOTES TO EDITORS

About 3rd Space:

Background
Founded on June 2nd 2009, 3rd Space provides the technology, the content and the advertisers enabling corporate brands to deliver rich, targeted marketing campaigns through the sponsorship of popular video clips made available free of charge to mobile subscribers and free of integration and deployment cost to the mobile operator. Under 3rd Space's unique structure, the Company can drive revenue for mobile operators, brand advertisers and content owners - thus uniquely benefitting all parties in any commercial situation. 

Platform
3rd Space has acquired the content rights, secured the advertisers and built the delivery platform that will enable partners to offer this service to subscribers with zero up-front investment. All partners will have to do is to bundle the data charges and market the service to their subscribers in exchange for a share of advertising revenues. It’s fast, easy and profitable. 

Mobile operators who partner with 3rd Space to offer free mobile video services to their subscribers gain a competitive advantage and drive consumer interest, retaining existing customers and attracting new ones. It’s a different way of partnering with brands to reduce churn. 3rd Space operates on the basis of cost per mobile view.

The platform gives real‐time, dynamic access for advertisers, operators, content owners and independent auditors to view the statistics being generated from end users. For countries such as China, UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Company offers open access to the platform for the authorising agency or Government bodies to enable or disable the content in real time.

Furthermore, 3rd Space can design and build iPhone applications for both content and brand advertising customers. The Company is therefore uniquely positioned to provide mobile network operators with video and gaming solutions that encourage customer adoption whilst increasing operator revenues through an ad‐funded model.

Pricing & Revenue Model
3rd Space’s commercial model is revolutionary. The Company pays the content owner for every unique view or download. The Company may need to offer a “minimum guarantee” or even pay a fixed fee, however the ability to deliver a larger audience across multiple regions to the content owner means they earn more than traditional subscription models.

3rd Space will charge advertisers a premium over traditional CPM’s (Cost per Mill). The Company will offer targeted campaigns to global audiences of profiled customers. They will generate significant audiences from mobile operators to become a single point of contact for campaigns being operated in Asia, Africa, Middle East, China and Europe. This will be a world first for a mobile VAS business and is a key USP for the business when attracting advertising revenues.

Media agencies and brands buy advertising on a CPM basis, at circa 3c per click. 3rd Space works on a CPmV (Cost Per mobile View) basis and will attract advertising revenues of between $0.20c and $0.50c per video advert for premium channel sponsorship. The average “return on investment” per video advert will be between 60% and 300%.

3rd Space charges brands more than the revenue share payouts to mobile operators and/or content owners to generate profits.

Partnership & Collaboration
3rd Space has relationships with leading media aggregators and broadcasters including IMG (sports), Shemaroo (Bollywood, games & children), Brand Kamaleon (Who wants to be a Millionaire, Fifth Gear and Dragon’s Den), TuneTribe (music videos) and direct relationships with content owners such as Major League Baseball and World Wrestling Federation.

On 9 July 2009, the Company announced that it had formed a partnership with Reliance Communications, India’s leading telecom player, to launch advertising funded videos on Reliance Mobile's platform.  Reliance Communications has a customer base of over 90 million including over 2 million individual overseas retail customers, ranks among the Top 10 Asian Telecom companies by number of customers.

Management team and structure
The Company carries one of the strongest and most diverse management teams of any private company operating in today's mobile media space. The seven strong executive team comprises of Warwick Hill (http://uk.linkedin.com/in/warwickhill) Martyn Lock, Robert Ashcroft, Mick Reeve, William Haighton, Jean Francois Denis and Stuart Hillston.

Their biographies are available at www.3rdspace.com

About Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Limited founded by the late Shri Dhirubhai H Ambani (1932-2002) is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group currently has a net worth in excess of Rs. 64,000 crore (US$ 13.6 billion), cash flows of Rs. 13,000 crore (US$ 2.8 billion), net profit of Rs. 8,400 crore (US$ 1.8 billion).

Reliance Communications is India's foremost and truly integrated telecommunications service provider. The Company, with a customer base of 92 million including over 2.5 million individual overseas retail customers, ranks among the Top 5 Telecom companies in the world by number of customers in a single country. Reliance Communications corporate clientele includes 2,100 Indian and multinational corporations, and over 800 global, regional and domestic carriers.

Reliance Communications has established a pan-India, next generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network that is capable of supporting best-of-class services spanning the entire communications value chain, covering over 24,000 towns and 600,000 villages. Reliance Communications owns and operates the world's largest next generation IP enabled connectivity infrastructure, comprising over 190,000 kilometers of fibre optic cable systems in India, USA, Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

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