Hoping consumers will continue to think of it as an authority in the emerging wireless Internet space, Motorola Inc. aired an image/branding spot on Oscar night to promote its Mobile Internet Exchange platform by creating a virtual personality for it called Mya.
Mya is a digital image of a young, blond woman created to put a face on the company’s MyoSphere services, part of the MIX platform launched in October. MyoSphere, meaning “my world,” is the voice-based interface to the MIX platform services.
Currently available MyoSphere services include voice dialing-such as saying “call Bob Smith” and the service can dial the number listed as Bob Smith in the contact list-and Internet content like news, sports and stocks read via text-to-speech technology.
Motorola expects to add the ability to read and create e-mail messages through dictation, as well as additional voice-Web content as it is created.
“The ad on the Oscars was an image ad. We want Motorola to be known as a leader in the wireless Internet. We focused on Mya because it is kind of new and cool,” said Julie Roth, director of marketing communications for Motorola’s Internet and Connectivity Services division.
While the ad was aired to consumers, the MIX platform is marketed to carriers, which in turn offer it to end users. Roth said Mya is not an actual virtual assistant product, like the voice-commandable assistants from Wildfire Inc. or Webley, but rather a virtual spokeswoman or mascot for MyoSphere services.
Digital Domain, a visual effects studio, created the image for Motorola.
