LG Seeks 'Fame' With Teens

The phone maker is partnering with the remake of ''Fame'' to reach teen consumers.

LG is working hard to stay the teenage cellphone of choice. The South Korean electronics giant already sells nine of the 20 most popular cellphones among teens, according to Comscore. But rivals like Samsung, Sanyo and Pantech are making their own affordable, text-centric phones, threatening LG's dominance.

To bond with its teen audience, LG is partnering with MGM to promote a remake of the hit 1980s film Fame, which centers on a group of artsy New York high school students. Under the deal, LG will launch a special Fame-themed Web site, LGFameUs that will host a video contest and quizzes. LG phones will also be sprinkled throughout the film, which opens on Sept. 25.

LG says the tie-in is designed to show teens and tweens that LG respects their "view of the world." "Teens are becoming a major force in mobile communications … we need to figure out a way to connect to them," says Ehtisham Rabbani, LG's vice president of product strategy and marketing. According to the company, more than 70% of American teenagers 17 and under have a cellphone--up from 45% in 2004.

The cornerstone of LG's campaign is a personality quiz that will be unveiled on Sept. 8. The quiz, which is being billed as, "What LG Cellphone are you?" will pose questions like "You're gonna live forever! How important are the following?" Answers will include "My career," "Having the latest technology" and "A phone that expresses who I really am, inside and out." After analyzing responses, the quiz will match participants with one of 12 LG phones. Interested consumers will be forwarded to LG's U.S. homepage, where they can learn more about the handsets and connect to carriers' sites to purchase them.

Rabbani says the quiz acknowledges that teens are individuals who want phones that match their lifestyles. (It will also collect useful--though anonymous--information about teen cellphone preferences.) LG's Fame video contest, which asks people to do their own interpretation of the film's iconic theme song, Live Forever, is designed to appeal to teens in a different way--by giving them a place to show off their personalities. "We want to be like a friend to teens, not talk down to them," says Rabbani.

Iowa Teen Wins Text-Messaging Championship

By Kimberly Chou
Article Source: Wall Street Journal

After the tears (and there were tears), texts and frantic thumb work, Kate Moore, 15 years old, came from behind to win the best-of-three finals round of LG’s U.S. National Texting Championships Tuesday.

Ms. Moore, from Des Moines, Iowa, beat Morgan Dynda, 14 years old, for the $50,000 prize by being first to text an error-free modified chorus from “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”

Ms. Dynda was in New York for a second straight year to compete for the texting title, which began as a promotional campaign for LG’s cellphones three years ago.

“I’m just, like, completely stunned right now,” Ms. Moore said. “You’d never think a girl from Iowa would win something this big in New York.” Minutes earlier, she had joked about buying Coach purses and “a pony” if she won.

Over two days in a TV studio made up to look like an arena, the competition whittled 21 finalists down to the two teenagers. Over five rounds, contestants texted phrases on LG-distributed phones — no iPhones or other handsets allowed — while jumping obstacles on a treadmill, enduring heckling and while blindfolded, the latter inspired by a Harris Interactive study in which 42% of teens said they could text with their eyes shut.

The text trials were tense, even without the emcee repeatedly noting the tension. Family members and the finalists eliminated earlier in the day yelled and whooped for their favorites, and the winners from 2007 and 2008 went head-to-head to warm up the crowd, like homecoming queens returning to pass on the crown (and compete for a 50-inch LG plasma TV).

LG representatives said that more than 250,000 people competed this year, with online competitions testing speed and accuracy, “text-ins” during MTV programs, and live qualifying events in cities around the country.

“It’s gone from an event with nice PR legs to a program with real continuity,” said Tres McCullough, co-founder of ad firm Fathom Communications, which worked with LG on the event.

Next up? Global competition. Ehtisham Rabbani, LG’s vice president of product strategy and marketing, said the company is planning for a “mobile world cup” in the fall, with winners from the U.S., Korea, Brazil and other countries participating.

U.S. winner Ms. Moore got teary on the brink of elimination — Ms. Dynda won the first round and finished first in the second round, though a mistake on her part kept Ms. Moore’s hopes alive. At the end of the finals, as the confetti guns exploded and Ms. Moore’s phone vibrated to confirm her win, tears came full force — from her, her mother in the audience and apparently her dad back home (whom Mom called, not texted, with the news).

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