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Mobile beats app fights knife crime in Britain

Advertising Agency RKCR/Y&R and Mobile Interactive Group have launched a new viral application for mobile phones in the hopes of deterring knife violence in Britain.

Saint, the ad agency's digital branch, headed up the creation of the Pocket Beatz application for the Home Office's "It Doesn't Have to Happen" campaign against knife crime. The campaign hopes to discourage kids from enaging in knife violence with the music production application that can be sent virally to users' friends.

"The app is supposed to engage the user with the It Doesn't Have To Happen message," said Tim Dunn, head of marketing services at Mobile Interactive Group, London. "Of course, you can't go up to teens and tell them ?knives are bad.'

"But if you can engage them in a community with some credible content and offer them something new and distracting, you have a chance to get your message across along with it," he said. "The app of course has links to the Bebo community (the campaign's social networking site) and some info on the details of knife crime."

The campaign also features downloadable video clips of knife crime reconstructions and the terrible after effects so kids can get a glimpse into the consequences of carrying a knife.

Pocket Beatz is basically a miniature version of a music studio where users can play a variety of beats, synths and loops to create mini tracks which are recordable and can be played back for friends and family to hear.

The target demographic for this campaign is 11 to 16-year-olds so RKCR/Y&R chose to implement an addition to the already wide variety of communication channels that target this age group.

"Young users are hard to engage through any kind of traditional marketing, but their mobile is the device that is nearest to their heart, and it's always with them," Mr. Dunn said.

"?It Doesn't Have To Happen' is the government's web presence that takes a stand against knife crime, featuring urban music and more, and the Pocket Beatz app is an extension of that brand," he said.

Pocket Beatz is equipped with a viral function that automatically links the application to the user's address book which lets users choose as many friends as they want to forward content.

This technology not only gives weight to the potential reach of the campaign but also allows the advertising agency to track just how far it's traveling.

The technology also enables identification and reward of key brand advocates, customer relationship management and eventually leads to a fresh database of users that the agency can promote future campaigns to directly.

RKCR/Y&R is using youth-targeted media on youth-focused mobile portals and Bluetooth promotions to distribute Pocket Beatz throughout Britain.

"Kids are very low viewers of TV and traditional media has little cut-through to them," Mr. Dunn said. "Mobile apps have repeat play value, and ours included a unique viral component to maximize the spread of the app among the target audience.

"We can target very well on mobile by placing Bluetooth units in target areas of the country, and by targeting mobile users on the Internet by their handset -- kids in this demographic have a certain range of lower-end handsets," he said.