Europe UK : T-Mobile and Sony Ericsson announced plans for using mobile music innovations to provide unique access and bring fans closer to the European Robbie Williams Close Encounters Tour 2006.

Mobile phones will be as good as tickets for an all-access pass to behind-the-scenes tour action, must-have mobile music content and an exciting way to be a part of the biggest European tour ever.

As part of its 18-month partnership with Robbie Williams, T-Mobile is the head sponsor of his Close Encounters Tour 2006 in its European markets. The Tour, which broke a Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest and largest number of concert tickets sold in one day, will stop in five of T-Mobile’s markets for 29 shows.

With exciting and unique on-ground activities at each concert as well as mobile music content from the Tour and exclusive prizes such a soundcheck and meet and greet opportunities, T-Mobile will engage and enthuse the nearly 2 million fans attending the shows. And for those unable to attend, Tour TV, video live-streaming and other mobile content will give them access to the tour wherever they are.

"Partnering with T-Mobile gives my fans a new way to experience the tour through their mobiles - it’s very exciting," said Robbie Williams.

Innovative Mobile Experience
Throughout the European Tour, T-Mobile will offer customers cutting-edge mobile music experiences that will turn their mobile phones into front row seats wherever they are. Shows from the Tour will be video live-streamed in its entirety to UMTS enabled handsets. This is a first of its kind experience for a tour and will give customers who do not have a ticket a chance to see the show live from the comfort of any location.

Tour TV, a new and separate channel within T-Mobile’s MobileTV service, will provide a behind-the-scenes experience from shows in all markets. Updated regularly, the content will include concert footage and a view from backstage. Robbie Williams mobile music content will be accessible to fans attending the summer shows inside the T-Mobile areas at each venue.

Special Edition Phone
In April, the Robbie Williams edition of the Sony Ericsson W300 Walkman phone was unveiled and will be available in stores mid-June in most markets. This special edition, exclusive to T-Mobile, features a first-ever start-to-finish experience of a music artist incorporating phone functionality, themed animation, mobile music content with Robbie Williams’ own creative influence on the phone design.

The phone comes with pre-installed mobile content recorded at the Tour kick-off show in Durban, South Africa in April including a live version of the opening song "Radio", a behind-the-scenes video clip and six wallpapers. Fans will also have direct access to the WAP site of RobbieWilliams.com with a special icon and will see a Robbie Williams animation when they start up and shut down the handset.

Available in all T-Mobile markets in time for the European Tour, the clamshell style phone has an embossed Robbie Williams logo on the back cover so customers can identify themselves as dedicated Robbie Williams fans and comes with two exchangeable "skins" so they can personalize their own phone. Vouchers for a specialized Close Encounters Tour 2006 skin will be given to fans at the concerts, which they can turn in at their local T-Mobile shop and show off to their friends that they attended one of the sold-out shows.

Supernatural Carnival
Upon entering the concert venues, fans will be greeted by T-Mobile’s Supernatural Carnival where they can try their luck and show off their skills to win prizes such as mobile music downloads or other Robbie Williams souvenirs. The games, created in traditional carnival style with a new futuristic twist, will engage and entertain concert goers before the shows.

Special Sony Ericsson promotions will also provide fans with a chance to try out the new Robbie Williams edition of the W300 Walkman phone and receive a voucher for a special Close Encounters Tour 2006 "skin" for the device.

Bringing Fans Closer
In July, 2005, Robbie Williams and T-Mobile announced an 18-month partnership in association with Sony Ericsson. This ground-breaking partnership has enabled fans across Europe to enjoy exclusive mobile music content such as pre-releases, unique exposure to Robbie Williams and the perfect reason to start using their mobile phones as true music devices.

T-Mobile will continue to bring fans closer to their favourite artist as lead sponsor and official mobile operator for the Close Encounters 2006 Tour in five markets. Fans will win tickets to the concerts and some lucky winners will win once in a lifetime experiences such as meet and greets with Robbie Williams himself and one exclusive soundcheck for T-Mobile winners where they will see him on-stage for a rehearsal. During four months of activities, T-Mobile will bring fans closer to Europe’s biggest popstar like never before through an innovative approach that goes beyond traditional sponsorships.

"For the past year we have provided Robbie Williams fans with ways to get closer to his music and first-chances to personalize their mobile phones with exciting content from his new album," said Ulli Gritzuhn, Chief Marketing Officer T-Mobile International. "We are now very excited to be a part of the Tour and look forward to bringing a new level of involvement that hasn’t been seen from usual sponsorships. T-Mobile will bring fans to the Tour while also bringing the Tour to the fans that don’t have tickets. The mobile is truly changing the way people listen to music and now even how they get closer to an artist’s tour."

"Offering fans a variety of ways to personalise their W300 Walkman phones was an exciting driver behind this special edition project," said Jan Wäreby, Corporate Executive Vice President, Head of Sales and Marketing, Sony Ericsson. "We are delighted that by working closely with T-Mobile both on the device and as a sponsor of the Closer Encounters 2006 Tour that we have been able to deliver such a compelling mobile music proposition to Robbie Williams fans."

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