The Publishers Clearing House Online Network (PCH) has teamed up with social media site TriviaTown.com to develop a mobile trivia application called PCH Trivia for use on the iPhone.
IPhone users can download a branded PCH application to play trivia games in exchange for prizes. This marks the veteran direct marketer’s first move into the mobile space, after the brand has been revamping its digital efforts in recent years.
“Sweepstakes are universal by nature, and we look at different channels to see where people are communicating,” said Alex Betancur, VP and GM for PCH Online. “We’ve been successful in direct mail and online, and now we see this emergence of a new mobile channel that people are using to communicate. As a direct response marketer, it is a place that we need to start experimenting with.”
The PCH Trivia application will contain more than 100,000 unique trivia questions in 600 different content areas. It will be available for free via Apple’s App Store in iTunes, and users will be able to customize their games by selecting from 14 different categories such as sports, movies, music, celebrities and society, and television. Questions cover popular figures such as Britney Spears and President-elect Barack Obama and are updated every month.
“Trivia is constantly evolving, and you can constantly update the content,” said Joe Ziznewski, CEO of TriviaTown.
The trivia games are aimed at all mobile users, including younger, more mobile-savvy consumers, and Middle American 30- and 40-somethings who, Betancur noted, are increasingly adopting smartphones.
For TriviaTown.com, this is also the first step into the mobile space.
“Being able to enter the mobile space with a company like PCH was a great opportunity,” Ziznewski said. “The cool thing about the application is the instant win component, which I really think will appeal to the iPhone crowd.”
PCH Trivia lets players earn cash prizes ranging from $1 to $2,500. Each game contains 10 questions, and players will receive points for each question answered correctly. Once the player has accumulated enough points, the player will have the opportunity to spin the “PCH Winning Wheel” to win cash and other prizes.
The PCH Online Network also is in the process of developing an iPhone application along with Griffin Technology
