Service lets fans receive phone calls from their favorite popstars
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Phonio is enabling celebrities to record mass messages for their fans, pushed to their handsets as a phone call.
The popstars that offer up a sense of intimacy and fan engagement are the ones that reap the rewards, as Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga have demonstrated with their focus on social media. Digital technology is making this connection all the more easy, and previously we've seen Egraphs link digital autographs with unique personal audio recordings from sports stars. Now Phonio is enabling celebrities to record mass messages for their fans, pushed to their handsets as a phone call.
Working with musicians, actors, politicians and industry experts, the service is designed to enable celebrities and public figures to connect to a large group of their fans through a single phone call. Fans first phone their idol's Phonio number to sign up to receive calls. When the celebrity wants to connect with their fans, they then simply dials the same number on their personal phone and is immediately connected to anyone who picks up. They can then leave a message about what they're up to, sing a new song they've just written, tell a funny story or offer a piece of advice. The calls are one-way, but the service gives fans the experience of receiving a real-time phone call from their idols, at a typical rate of one a month. There’s also an option for celebrities to make direct phone calls to a random fan.
Phonio has already teamed up with Young Money Records & rapper Lil Wayne, NBA’s Sacramento Kings, musician and actor Drake Bell and nonprofit organization NextGen Climate. Although Phonio is directed at figures already au fait with building an audience by talking directly to fans through social media, it also serves other purposes — for example a CEO could make a phone call to their entire staff as a personal alternative to a group email.
Watch the video below to learn more about Phonio:
Are there other ways that celebrities could connect individually with fans?