Corpse Princess - The First Anime Series to Hunt Down Smartphone Users

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FUNimation® Entertainment (http://www.funimation.com), the leading North American distributor of anime, and iVdopia (www.ivdopia.com), the largest video and rich media mobile advertising network, today announced their collaboration to launch the first rich media mobile advertising campaign ever done for anime entertainment on Smartphone devices. The innovative advertising campaign highlights the launch of the series ?Corpse Princess? (known originally as ?Shikabane Hime?) on DVD on September 14th.

?The 'Corpse Princess' campaign brings never-before-seen rich media effects and a customized means of experiencing one of the most awaited anime releases of the year. We?re confident that this will bring the anime experience to consumers in the most exciting way yet.?

The rich media campaign running all this month is currently live on leading applications across mobile devices, and represents FUNimation?s first foray into video advertising on Smartphones to create a comprehensive mobile campaign that is innovative and entertaining. This initiative plays a critical role in the anime entertainment distributor?s strategy with integrated marketing efforts, which also include print and online advertising, live events and social media.

Created and implemented exclusively by iVdopia, the rich media mobile ad campaign seeks to build awareness, generate interest and deliver an interactive experience aimed at a niche audience of young men and women interested in the anime genre of entertainment. ?Corpse Princess? is the story of Makina Hoshimura, an undead girl who is hunting down 108 other undead in order to gain entry into heaven with the help of a secret society of anti-corpse Buddhist monks.

For the launch of the campaign, a series of rich media creatives have been developed including pre-app videos and banner ads, which will appear as the user loads applications on his Smartphone device. For the first time, FUNimation will be engaging users with the dynamic rich media ad unit from iVdopia, the Viper Ad, which allows the user to swipe away an entire screen-takeover with a fingertip to reveal the next image. FUNimation will also be integrating its social media activities for ?Corpse Princess? in the mobile campaign through the Talk2Me rich media ad unit, allowing users to share the ?Corpse Princess? video with friends across social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The Talk2Me ad will also provide users a chance to view multiple clips from the anime series, building awareness and deep-engagement levels.

?Working with iVdopia is an opportunity to use the latest in advertising technology and to grow our market by reaching an audience we haven?t reached before,? said Catherine Kim, Media Manager at FUNimation Entertainment. ?Mobile video viewing is on the rise and we want to offer the anime experience to the entertainment audience wherever they are.?

?FUNimation Entertainment is an excellent example of how brands are using out-of-the-box promotional efforts and embracing digital innovation on Smartphones. This is a perfect opportunity to target a niche set of audiences on the go, and creatively combine the latest in video and mobile technology to reach and engage such consumers,? said Saurabh Bhatia, Chief Business Officer at iVdopia. ?The 'Corpse Princess' campaign brings never-before-seen rich media effects and a customized means of experiencing one of the most awaited anime releases of the year. We?re confident that this will bring the anime experience to consumers in the most exciting way yet.?

About FUNimation Entertainment

FUNimation® Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, is the leading company for home video sales of Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution. For more information about FUNimation Entertainment and its brands, visit www.funimation.com.

About iVdopia

iVdopia is the largest video and rich media mobile advertising network bringing the powerful visuals and interactivity of video to millions of Smartphone device users. Serving over a hundred million video and one billion rich media mobile impressions, iVdopia provides advertisers, publishers and application developers with one of the most effective and device-independent platforms for the mobile advertising industry. As a ?first to market? pioneer to launch multiple rich media and video ad formats, development tools and an HTML5 ad-serving platform for Smartphones, iVdopia provides a unified mobile video ad experience across all devices, regardless of operating system or hardware. iVdopia's video and rich media mobile solutions are used by leading publishers and advertisers such as Wrigleys, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers and Miller Lite to deliver premium advertising campaigns. Visit www.ivdopia.com to know more.

The holding company Vdopia Inc. is the fastest growing venture-funded advertising technology company focused exclusively on premium audiences in the world. The privately held, venture-backed company is headquartered in Silicon Valley and has offices in San Jose and Los Angeles, CA, New York, NY, Chicago, IL, and Gurgaon and Mumbai, India. Visit www.vdopia.com to know more.

Note to editors/Photo caption: FUNimation will be integrating its social media activities for ?Corpse Princess? in their mobile ad campaign through iVdopia?s Talk2Me rich media ad unit, allowing users to share the ?Corpse Princess? video across social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

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