A new marketing campaign for Fogg Mobile will showcase its ‘borderless sim card’ by using real birds to Tweet messages across European borders.
On 18 June four racing pigeons will start transmitting Twitter messages via a specially-created backpack as they cross the skylines of Denmark, Germany, Belgium and Holland.
The researchers’ partner, international creative agency Perfect Fools, was comissioned by Fogg to highlight how travellers can now use popular tablet and mobile applications such as Twitter in different European countries at a flat rate, without incurring expensive data roaming costs.
To underline how Fogg’s technology flies in the face of national borders, the agency is encouraging Twitter account holders to submit Tweets, choose which bird will carry it, and in which country to release it. Once the bird has reached the appointed destination, both Tweet and nation the bird is in will appear on their Twitter page. Suggested Tweets can be submitted via foggmobile.com/tweet from 13th June.
Each of the birds: Hans, Wilma, Jean Claude, and Engeli also have their own Twitter account, providing a ’Tweet stream’ that documents their training and experiences mid air.
John Harmander from Fogg, says: ”The homing pigeon’s disregard for national boundaries and track record carrying important information makes them the perfect choice for this exciting experiment. Fogg’s boundary-free technology is enabling Twitter beyond borders – participants can become involved in the experiment and see their Tweet released when their chosen carrier reaches a specified country, without leaving their couch. ”
He adds:” There was also a part of us that simply wanted to see if it was possible to ’put pigeons online’ across Europe. Perfect Fools have immersed themselves in this world for many weeks to deliver this project for Fogg.”
The specially-designed 28 gramme backpack will carry a Fogg SIM card connected to a GSM (Global Systems Mobile) database which will activate the Tweets. It will also hold a GPS tracking device to release location data en route.
A dedicated University pigeon research unit in Münich worked with Perfect Fools to ensure the birds can carry the technology safely when they are released en mass from Malmö, Sweden.
Data from the flights will be donated to the unit, along with the technology created. The four chosen pigeons were selected from a group of 20 identified for their ability to fly over water and their excellent sense of direction.
Patrick Garder, CEO of Perfect Fools says: ”Marrying 19th and 21st century message delivery systems was technically challenging, but we all agreed from the start it was necessary for authenticity; we really wanted to make sure the pigeons were able to ’Tweet’ as far as it was possible.”
A limited number of free Fogg SIM cards are available to coincide with the launch, as well as an online video of the birds’ preparations, which is being promoted via YouTube and Twitter.
www.foggmobile.com
www.perfectfools.com
