June 9, 2003
SMS Celeb Chats
1000 fans connected to the SMS live chat with mega rock star Johnny Hallyday, organized by French mobile operator SFR, according to French e-zine Mobicity.
Organizing SMS chat sessions is becoming a popular way in Europe for singers to promote a new album or a concert tour such as the Star Academy group (France's version of American Idol), and even politicans have organized SMS chats to reach young voters. Last year before and during the presidential elections in France, candidates Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Alain Madelin, François Bayrou and extreme right wing Jean-Marie Lepen all participated in chat sessions organized by (youth) mobile community Freever, with an astounding 250'000 questions logged in for Jean-Marie Le Pen.
How does it work? I witnessed a chat seesion last year in Geneva, in a fashionable café, where Axel Red was visting to promote her new album. The organizers sat in front of a PC with the singer where they handled the incoming text messages and the replies on a PC platform developed by wireless technology company Echovox. Fans who had signed up for the chat by sending an SMS to a short code, could then send their question and received on their handset, all SMS sent out by everyone else (questions and answers). With premium SMS and a popular star, this can be a lucrative deal.
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