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23rd October, 2006 - London - ROK, the UK-based mobile communications and entertainment specialist, has selected Harvard PR to raise the company’s profile as it further expands into the mobile phone application market. Best known for its ROK TV service, ROK recently launched the world’s first ever converged mobile/IP, subscription-free TV service, FreeBe TV, which can be accessed both on a mobile phone and any PC using its IPTV service.
Harvard will handle all UK corporate, trade and consumer PR, as well as managing sister agency, Bell Pottinger USA, who will execute the same brief in North America. Harvard has been tasked with raising awareness of ROK across business and consumer audiences alike, as the company rapidly enters new geographies with countless new consumer applications, including additional TV services, a mobile VoIP (voice over IP) service and a media player offering on-demand audio and visual content on phones, downloadable through the internet.
ROK is also introducing innovative new content services, such as You-Made-It TV - a channel which carries user-generated content and can be likened to a mobile phone version of YouTube - and Monkey News, a rolling news channel presented by animated monkeys.
The converged ‘two-screen proposition’ puts ROK in a position of strength in harnessing the myriad opportunities afforded by the imminent explosion of mobile and IPTV content services. This is a market that ABI Research believes could comprise 250 million people worldwide by 2010, representing a total market of $27 billion per year.
Harvard will also handle ROK’s trade analyst relations, as well as speaking opportunities. Prior to working with ROK, Harvard successfully handled the UK introduction of MobiTV, an American mobile TV service provider who entered the UK through commercial deals with Orange and 3.
“I had little hesitation in appointing Harvard and its Bell Pottinger partners as clearly they ‘get’ mobile. A strong track record alongside a passion and energy for what we are trying to achieve here at ROK demonstrated to me that Harvard could deliver not just strong media relations, but also valuable counsel on the positioning and message development of our ever-expanding portfolio of mobile applications”, comments Bruce Renny, marketing director of ROK.
“We are not just launching a technology or a brand with ROK, but also a new way of thinking about the applications we interact with on our phones. Having launched the concept of mobile TV in the UK over two years ago, we are now working with ROK to educate the market about the value and impact of free content services on their phones and PCs. But it’s not simply a consumer job, there is a tremendous job to do in terms of educating the mobile phone industry and content providers, regarding the new revenue models that ROK unlocks,” says Harvard director, Charlotte West.
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