3 releases mobile games advertising inventory

London 3 May 2006
Mobile media company 3 has launched a new section of advertising inventory targeted at mobile games companies. The ad space, located on the 3 games portal, allows publishers to promote their games further up the portal to drive sales.

The new space has already attracted the interest of two leading games publishers - from today the space will be promoting titles from Digital Chocolate and Advanced Mobile Solutions (AMS).

The launch of the new inventory comes as 3 undertakes a comprehensive review of advertising and sponsorship opportunities within its content offering. The rich media opportunities opened up by mobile media mean brands now have access to a new channel to reach their target audience and the in-house review is looking to exploit these opportunities. 3 is offering a fixed space on the games portal for advertising, alongside its regular games content which is managed according to its own editorial priorities.

Mark Joseph, Head of Content Products at 3, said: "Content providers on the 3 portal are always looking at ways of pushing their content further up the navigation and, by opening up this inventory, we're giving them the chance to do just this.

"The 3 portal is a hugely powerful advertising proposition both for content providers of all types and for off-line brands. We're increasingly seeing brands dedicate significant portions of their ad spend to mobile. We're constantly working to refine our advertising and sponsorship proposition and this inventory release is clear evidence of that."

Richard Neale, Director at Advanced Mobile Solutions said: "The key challenge for games companies is securing effective distribution through favourable placement on operator portals. Minimising the number of clicks to a title is key in securing downloads of that property so being able to access a space right at the top of the games section is hugely valuable to any publisher."

Ilkka Paananen, Managing Director Europe, Digital Chocolate, said: "Digital Chocolate is happy to participate in 3's innovative marketing approach. 3 customers are at the forefront when it comes to using mobile content and we see this as a unique opportunity to offer high quality games based on original IP. Together with 3 we can do targeted marketing directly to those consumers who are likely to value Digital Chocolate's ingenuity"

3's games portal has proved particularly popular with over 6.4 million downloads in just 12 months, thanks to the depth and breadth of 3's games deck and 3's unique "buy" and "rental" pricing model. Charts by ELSPA, the industry body that releases games download figures, consistently demonstrate 3's success in this arena. With 3.5 million customers, more people are playing games on 3 than any other operator.

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About 3
3 is a mobile media company delivering a convergence of communications, entertainment and information to customers on the move.

The three areas which form the core of its business are:
Communications - including all forms of personal communications, voice and video calling; text, picture and video messaging; and mobile blogging
Entertainment - including television, music audio and video, computer games, and media publishing
Information services - including wireless web, access to the best of the internet and a range of news services
3 UK is a member of the HWL group of 3G companies, which include 3G operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy and Sweden.

Three facts about 3:
3, a mobile media company, launched the UK's first 3G network
3 has over 3.5 million customers in the UK and over 11.9 million worldwide
The 3 network offers national coverage for calls and texts, and over 88% population coverage for 3G services.

For more information, contact the 3 media office on 0207 350 5696 or Parys Communications 020 7819 2488