YooMedia plc, the interactive media group, has announced that it will acquire mobile phone marketing and technology company Whoosh Group Limited. The company has SMS time-stamping technology that will complement YooMedia’s existing Trigger TV system.
Whoosh is a leader in the use of SMS technology in brand marketing campaigns and for television quiz shows such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Whoosh’s RTMS (Real Time Messaging Service) platform allows for high SMS throughput and uniquely records the exact time that viewers, regardless of network, have sent in their texts.
This time-stamping technology has also been used by the BBC for Test the Nation” and by brand-owners, such as Unilever and Nestle, for interactive marketing of products.
This year the company won the 2004 New Media Age Effectiveness Award for its work in the broadcast sector.
YooMedia says the business is complementary to their existing Trigger TV operation, which has patents covering synchronous interactivity between broadcast radio and television programmes.
Trigger TV’s technology has been trialled on Cartoon Network and on BBC Radio 5 Live.
David Docherty, chief executive of YooMedia, said: “Whoosh fits perfectly with our Trigger TV business. Together they offer a powerful combination for broadcasters and marketers who wish to take advantage of real time interactive mobile technology. This puts us in pole position in the wireless interactive market.”
David Bainbridge, managing director of Whoosh and former deputy marketing director of Channel 5, will manage the integration of the combined Whoosh and Trigger TV business.