OPTUS UNLOCKS THE 'SECRETS OF SALTIMBANCO„¢' TO SUPPORT ITS CIRQUE DU SOLEIL® SPONSORSHIP

As the presenting sponsor of the 2011 Australian tour of Saltimbanco by Cirque du Soleil, Optus is leveraging its sponsorship to engage and delight Optus customers as well as Cirque du Soleil fans by providing them with unique consumer experiences.

Marketing initiatives to support this year’s Cirque du Soleil tour include an Optus ‘Secrets of Saltimbanco’onsite experience at all eight tour venues, access to exclusive content via Facebook, an exclusive mobile site for Optus customers and an online treasure hunt via Facebook to support ticket giveaways nationally.

Saltimbanco is the fourth Cirque du Soleil tour that Optus has supported as the presenting sponsor, in addition to the tours of Quidam™ (2004-5), Varekai™ (2006-7) and Dralion™ (2008-9).

Jann Kohlman, Group Manager, Optus Sponsorship and Community Programs said, “We are proud to be involved with Cirque du Soleil once again. The success of this sponsorship is based on our brand synergies as we are both challenger brands. Cirque has reinvented the circus genre and always surprises and delights audiences while Optus is focused on innovation and providing a superior customer experience.

“For this latest tour we wanted to provide customers and consumers with an interactive experience that truly reflects the innovation and creativity of Saltimbanco. Optus Secrets of Saltimbanco is about bringing interesting facts about Saltimbanco and Cirque du Soleil to life and giving the audience a chance to see the behind the scenes story. We’re also rewarding our customers and people that take part in the OptusSaltimbanco Secret Mission with prizes and access to exclusive content.”

Interactive onsite experience: The Optus ‘Secrets of Saltimbanco’ onsite experience at all eight tour venues will give the audience a chance to uncover interesting facts and secrets about Saltimbanco andCirque du Soleil by answering a set of questions using an interactive iPad application. Fans that complete the ‘Saltimbanco Secret Mission’ will have the opportunity to win a trip to LA to attend the world premiere of IRIS™, the latest Cirque du Soleil show. They will also be given a selection of keys to unlock the ‘Secrets of Saltimbanco‘ trunks to win Cirque du Soleil merchandise.

Interactive treasure hunt: Offering fans more chances to win their way to Saltimbanco, Optus is running a treasure hunt via the Cirque du Soleil tab on its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/optus). Fans have the chance to score double passes to Saltimbanco in each city, with more than 600 tickets up for grabs nationally. In the two weeks leading up to each Saltimbanco premiere, Optus will release daily cryptic clues along with a password about the location of the Optus Key Master within each city. The first 40 fans to solve the clues and physically find their local Optus Key Master and say the password will receive double passes to Saltimbanco.

Exclusive content: For the first time Optus mobile customers can also enjoy exclusive access to the ‘Secrets of Saltimbanco‘ mobile site, which can be viewed via a web browser on any compatible mobile handset. The program includes selected video clips and characters from Saltimbanco as well as an exclusive message from Australian Saltimbanco artist, Nathan Dennis. Optus mobile customers can simply SMS ‘CIRQUE’ to 966 to receive the exclusive web link, or complete the ‘Saltimbanco Secret Mission’.

To give the public a behind the scenes glimpse of the Cirque du Soleil tour, Optus are producing content including ‘webisodes’ and video blogs with the Saltimbanco cast and crew. Fans can view the content exclusively via the ‘Cirque du Soleil’ tab on the Optus Facebook page.

Optus has donated three laptops with Optus mobile broadband connectivity to help Cirque du Soleil cast and crew keep in touch with friends and family for the duration of the four month tour, as well as assisting the tour with mobile services.

For more information about Optus ‘Secrets of Saltimbanco’, please visit www.optus.com.au/cirque.

Media contact:
Kasia Ciszak
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 8082 7850