MyScreen Mobile in rewards-program deal

TORONTO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- MyScreen Mobile Inc. has signed a partnership deal with ad giant Omnicom Group Inc. to promote its cell-phone ad rewards program, the Toronto firm said Monday.

The partnership with Omnicom's Zimmerman Advertising of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will help MyScreen internationally roll out its permission-based incentive program for cell-phone advertising and facilitate MyScreen's brand development, the company said.

The MyScreen technology works by displaying an ad on a person's cell-phone screen as soon as a call or text message ends. Each time an ad is displayed, the user receives incentives, such as free airtime minutes, ringtones or coupons.

When people sign up, they fill out a questionnaire letting MyScreen know what they're interested in so MyScreen sends only ads that interest them.

"We believe that MyScreen's technology is visionary and will create a wave of impact in the world," Zimmerman Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Officer Cliff Courtney said.

"First, it delivers intensely targeted messages critical to brand and retailer success," he said. "Second, it allows mobile phone consumers to be compensated for viewing ads. Everyone wins."

The technology currently works on BlackBerry wireless hand-held devices, made by Research In Motion Ltd. of Waterloo, Ontario, as well as Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. devices, with an Apple Inc. iPhone version in development, MyScreen says.