Bebo Series to Promote New Paramount Feature

LONDON, July 28: The
AOL-owned social-networking site Bebo has inked a deal to incorporate the new
Paramount Pictures youth-targeted release Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging into its hit online drama, Sofia's Diary.

This is Bebo’s first
movie-integration deal. It will see the movie being included in the plot of two
episodes, one of which aired on Friday—Angus, Thongs and Perfect
Snogging’s U.K. release date. Sofia’s
Diary incorporated the movie's
lead character, Georgia Nicolson, into the plotline of the online drama via her
Bebo profile. The collaboration was brokered by advertising agency MeC
Interaction and has already proved hugely successful—Georgia’s profile
has attracted 8,990 friends, garnered over 120,000 profile views and delivered
more than 1 million video views overall for the blogs.
Bebo's U.K. sales manager, Dominic Tillson,
said: "We are very excited to be working with Paramount Pictures on this
project. Online interactive programming is becoming increasingly influential in
shaping young people's impressions of brands and engaging with the audience
through programs such as Sofia's Diary and represents a key way for brands such as Paramount Pictures to
connect with its target audience. This differs from the usual film campaigns we
run on many counts and the results speak for themselves with nearly 9,000
friends on the profile; high video-view figures, and longer engagement on
Georgia's profile."

Paramount Pictures'
director of interactive marketing, Heath Tyldesley, added: "Teaming up
with Bebo and the makers of Sofia's Diary presents an exceptional platform for us to engage with our target
audience. We recognize that social networking is an important new form of
self-expression, allowing people to communicate their passions and express
their identity to one another. Sofia and Georgia presented us with a very
natural partnership as the characters have a lot in common."

—By Mansha Daswani