Fun Text Rolls Out Virtual Gifts

Mobile messaging service provider Fun Text has announced the roll-out of virtual gifts on its peer-to-peer messaging services in the UK and the US, extending the phenomenon of giving virtual gifts from web-based social networks such as Facebook to the mobile world. The exclusive content, commissioned by Fun Text from award-winning mobile production studio Mobstar Media, is now available on major operators such as Sprint, T-Mobile and 3.
“We were delighted to team up with Fun Text to create a new messaging product that hits the zeitgeist of how modern consumers communicate,” says Dan Price, Head of Global Accounts at Mobstar. “We’re sure that the gifts will be a great success.”
Fun Text’s aim is to enable the sending of professionally-created multimedia content on mobile, which covers more than traditional greetings cards.
“Mobile messaging needs to stay relevant to a generation growing up on social networks and IM (Instant Messaging),” says Fun Text Business Development Director, James Pycock. “With millions of virtual gifts being sent on Facebook through applications such as ‘The Bakery’, we felt it was time to move mobile on from so-called mcards.”
Fun Text also drives rich media messaging through innovative business models such as the $3.99 (£2.15) unlimited MMS sending subscription available on Sprint in the US. Later in the year, the virtual gifts service will be opened up to sponsors. Fun Text has a track record in delivering ad-funded peer-to-peer messaging campaigns for Coca-Cola, Target and Smirnoff.