Mobile app to tackle knife crime
Home Office says ‘It Doesn’t Have to Happen’
As part of an initiative to tackle knife crime, the Home Office has sponsored a mobile phone application as part of its campaign to reach 11 to 16-year olds.
The application is something of a cross between a music tracker and a game, allowing users to splice together short samples to create their own music in a virtual recording studio.
The tracks can then be saved and shared, as the application connects directly with the handset’s address book.
Developed by Saint at RKCR in partnership with the Mobile Interactive Group, the Pocket Beatz application actually seems to be achieving an impressive degree of viral distribution.
“Targeting 11-16-year-olds isn’t easy, but by providing such a cool application for their phones we hope to drive the message home in a way they’ll find interesting,” says head of marketing services for MIG, Tim Dunn.
Generally such campaigns fail to cross the age barrier and actually deliver their messages, but the distribution of Pocket Beatz through Bluetooth promotions, its Bebo page and O2’s portal appears to be finding its way directly to the target audience.
Quite whether it’ll have an effect on the seemingly disconnected area of knife crime remains to be seen, but the Home Office has to get at least a ‘B’ for effort.
