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Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:30 |
Happy birthday wishes sent to celebrate the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela using PSMS from 20 countries will raise funds for his charitable organisations.
A mixture of shared and dedicated PSMS codes have been set up in over 20 countries around the world making this one of the biggest premium SMS fundraising initiatives to be staged. Well wishers text their own message to their specific short code in country, receive a return thank you message complete with unique PIN allowing them to view their message securely online at www.happybirthdaymandela.com. The specially created birthday site also contains celebrity messages both written and filmed from Mr Mandela's supporters around the world.
Birthday Concert
Launching today in the majority of territories the Birthday Wishes Campaign coincides with Mr Mandela's 90th birthday concert in London's Hyde Park on June 27th. The concert comes 20 years after the landmark spectacle at Wembley Stadium to call for his release from prison and to mark his 70th birthday. The concert will be broadcast internationally on television, radio and online and will see numerous stars echoing the call to action to 'Text Nelson Mandela Happy Birthday'. The campaign runs through until the 18th of July, Mr Mandela's actual 90th birthday, culminating in a card being presented to him in South Africa noting the number of messages received.
Participating Countries
To date countries participating include: UK, Australia, Germany, Spain, USA, Finland, Ireland, Sweden,
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
The UK short code number is 84707 and texts costs £1.50 while in South Africa SMS to 46664 cost 20 RND.
In these following countries users need to text NELSON then their message:
Australia - 19703333 - AUD$3
Germany - 84040 - € 0.99
Spain - 5710 - € 1.20
Finland - 173432 - €1.20
Sweden - 72220 - 20SEK
Austria - 900100310 - € 1
Belgium - 3669 - €1
Denmark - 1231 - 15 DKK
Netherlands - 3669 - €1.20
Norway - 2140 - 15NOK
46664 Aids Response
Launched in 2003, 46664 is an African response to the global HIV AIDS epidemic that invites the whole world to take the fight in hand. It is called 46664 as this was Nelson Mandela's prison number when he was imprisoned on Robben Island, off Cape Town in South Africa. He was prisoner number 466, imprisoned in 1964. The Robben Island prisoners were never referred to by their names, but rather by their numbers and year of imprisonment - hence 46664 was Nelson Mandela's number. 46664 International Director Tim Massey said, "We are delighted to be launching this campaign allowing so many people around the world the chance to wish this extraordinary man happy birthday".
Managed by Nelson Mandela's HIV/AIDS global awareness campaign 46664 and strategically live for 46,664 minutes all profits received from text charges will go to the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust and other
charitable organisations supported by Mr Mandela. These include The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, The Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation.
Mobile Technology Partners
Specific telecoms advice has been given to the charity in setting up the complex international campaign by Telecoms consultant Tim Williams and Naqada. Running on a system built and managed by UK based Mediadeck the campaign has been enabled by SMS aggregators Sybase 365, mBlox and Digital Services Group in South Africa. 46664 concert sponsor Zain has also assisted in switching on the campaign across its African territories.
A customer care service has been provided by Mediadeck with support from Elephant Talk, Mediatel and North West Nevada Telecom. With web design and build by V&H Sistemas Informáticos in Argentina, WAP site design by Adfrap in the UK and hosting by Rackspace the Birthday Wishes Campaign claims to be one of the first truly global charity PSMS services ever launched.
As his final public engagement, Mr. Mandela’s appearance at the concert is sure to be emotional. His message is that we can all help to carry on his work: “ "AIDS is no longer just a disease, it's a human rights issue. It’s in our hands†he said.
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