News 2001
Virgin Mobile goes text-happy at V2001 as 20,000 festival-goers
23/08/2001
V2001, sponsored by Virgin Mobile, enjoyed its sixth glorious year on the 18th & 19th August 2001, in Weston Park, Staffordshire, and Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex - playing host to the cream of musical talent with live performances from some of the biggest names in music from all over the world.
Artists including Texas, Coldplay, Kylie, Nelly Furtado and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers played to a 65,000 capacity crowd which gave every act a fantastic reception, despite the weekend's intermittent rain showers and the subsequent mud!
However, while some might say Coldplay stole the show, some of the biggest cheers of the weekend were reserved for 'Text the Fest' messages, which appeared on the huge 'jumbotron' screens, either side of the main stage for all to see. For the first time in any festival's history, festival-goers were able to send a text message to the screens showing jokes, limericks, love messages, and some rather risqué sentiments to the audible delight of the crowd.
The total number of messages sent was a whopping 20,102, with more messages still coming in now to say what a fantastic time was had by all. 45 people sent more than ten messages each and one text mad person sent 64 messages in a day! With 8,837 messages sent, Hylands Park came second to the text-mad northerners at Weston Park, who sent an even more impressive 11,265.
Alison Bonny, press officer at Virgin Mobile, was responsible for the message selection. She says: "Sending a message to the festival was hugely popular - at times the crowd were screaming at the messages more than at the bands! There were marriage proposals, declarations of love for various band members, and hundreds of shouts out to the vast crowd of Aussies in the audience."
"Choosing which messages to put up on the screens was extremely difficult. I have loads of favourite text messages from the weekend, but if I had to choose two they would have to be:
'My girlfriend asked me for the definition of a double entendre. So I gave her one.'
and,
'All those boys hoping for a wet T-shirt competition are praying for rain.'
The Virgin Mobile V2001 Hotline received thousands of calls in the run up to the festival and over the weekend, for line up information, travel advice, gossip and weather forecasts. Even more registered for the Virgin Mobile V2001 SMS service during the weekend to receive weather forecasts, special offers, competitions and on-site gossip direct to their phones via SMS.
At both of the V2001 sites, the Virgin Mobile Trailer Park attracted thousands of visitors, who came to enjoy the free manicures and massages, mobile phone recharging facilities, demonstrations of MP3 downloads, and famous-name DJs who turned the Trailer Park into a mobile party every evening.
Roll on V2002!
For more text messages, visit the website: www.virgin.com/mobile/v2001
For further information or high res images of jumbotrons, please call:
Alison Bonny, Virgin Mobile, 07802 430 276
Joanne Baker, Virgin Mobile, 07941 233 300
Debra Burtt, Consolidated Communications,
07941 200 300
Georgina Annett, Consolidated Communications,
07941 251 100
Julia Clark, Consolidated Communications,
07747 632 175
Sasha Bradbury, Consolidated Communications,
07941 230700
Email: press.office@virginmobile.com
Notes to Editors:
About Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a 50:50 joint venture company between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Deutsche Telekom's One 2 One, and is the UK's first mobile virtual operator (MVNO). Since its launch in November 1999 it has attracted over one million customers, making it one of the fastest growing mobile phone companies ever.
It has scored a number of firsts, including being the first operator to scrap peak rate calls, introduce a daily discounting tariff, introduce an integrated MP3 mobile phone and is the first operator to introduce a cash back tariff, The Big Bonus.
Virgin Mobile is the only network to offer cheap calls and no line rental with no hidden catches and no contracts to sign. Standard calls cost 15p per minute for the first 5 minutes of use each day, and 5p per minute after that, for up to 23 hours 55 minutes each day. There is no line rental fee and no catches, however you choose to pay - you only pay for the calls you make. Voicemail retrieval is free and SMS messages cost 10p per message in the UK.
You can also Pay As You Want - by topping up with a voucher or a debit or credit card, or you can pay monthly by direct debit. Either way, you still receive the same great value tariff and no monthly fee.
The Big Bonus scheme entitles customers using £30-worth of calls or more each month to 10% of whatever they spend as an airtime credit the following month (includes calls made within and from the UK). The Big Bonus is available to everyone paying by direct debit, or to pre-pay customers topping up with either a credit or debit card.
VirginXtras is Virgin Mobile's groundbreaking range of value-added and money-saving services. The VirginXtras service helps customers get the information they want, in the most accessible and easy-to-understand way, whether it be via IVR, SMS, voice or WAP, and can be tailor-made to suit each individual. VirginXtras is available to every Virgin Mobile customer and puts service over technology. Sports covered include: rugby union, rugby league, football, Formula 1, tennis, cricket, golf and British superbkes.
Customers logging on to www.virgin.com/mobile simply pre-select areas of interest from seven core categories, including: sport, music, going out, staying in, travel, shopping and fun. So, whether people are after the most recent film releases at their local cinema, discounts on a whole range of items from CDs to holidays, football scores for their favourite team or a recommendation for a night out, VirginXtras offers the easiest way to get the best and latest personalised information sent right to your phone.
Virgin has already taken the brand overseas with Virgin Mobile (Australia), a partnership with Optus, which opened for business at the end of October 2000. A similar joint-venture between Virgin and Singapore Telecom will see the launch of Virgin Mobile (Asia) later in 2001. The global Virgin Mobile brand is also expected to launch in the USA and Europe within two years. Virgin Mobile has also recently launched in Northern Ireland.
In the UK, Virgin Mobile phones are available direct on 0845 6000 600; on the web at www.virgin.com/mobile; or on the High Street at over 4,500 outlets including Virgin Megastore, Our Price, V.SHOP and in outlets including supermarkets such as Sainsbury, Tesco, WH Smith, Iceland, Co-op, Asda, Somerfield and John Lewis.
