Village Gamer

Toronto – The public is being invited to play a real time giant video game using BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphones from Rogers Wireless to communicate with the Outdoor Broadcast Network’s massive video board on the Toronto Eaton Centre Media Tower at Yonge?Dundas Square – the first interactive video game promotion of its kind Canada.

The Outdoor Broadcast Network (OBN) secured the exclusive rights (for Dundas Square) to software distributed by Montreal’s iGotcha Media and took the idea to Rogers Wireless through its agencies, MediaCom and Publicis. The “Dial to Play” software has been integrated into the operating system of the 40’ x 30’ video board on the Toronto Eaton Centre Media Tower that overlooks Dundas Square, enabling users of the new Rogers Wireless BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone to interact with the giant video board.

Rogers will have event teams at Yonge?Dundas Square until the end of December,
inviting up to 10 people at a time to try out one of the new BlackBerry Flip smartphones and play the game in real time. Game players control their actions by shouting ‘Flip’ into the mobile phones which through voice recognition controls each player’s avatar hand reaching up to a Christmas stocking to grab phones that appear to tumble from the sky. OBN has incorporated the game into the regular programming run of advertising on the video board.

OBN is the only national network of Video Boards in Canada and also offers several specialized out-of-home media venues. OBN provides marketers with innovative advertising solutions by leveraging technology that enables them to engage their viewers. This is program is another example of how OBN leverages technology to reach and engage target audiences for its clients and reflects the dynamic promotional capabilities of digital out of home.

The OBN national network delivers a weekly audience of over 11 million across the markets of Vancouver, Victoria, Chilliwack, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Windsor, Niagara Falls, Cambridge, Hamilton, Saint John, Halifax and Toronto. OBN is a member of CODA (Canadian Out-of-home Digital Association), COMB (Canadian Out-of-home Measurement Bureau) and OMAC (Out-of-home Marketing Association of Canada).