The Seven Network and mobile solutions company Mnet have been recognised with a prominent award from one of Asia-Pacific's most important and competitive awards forums, The Festival of Media.

Announced in Singapore last night, the Festival of Media awarded a Silver in the Best Use of Mobile category to Network Seven and Mnet for their innovative second-screen application developed for The Big Adventure. The Big Adventure episodes each featured a prominent opportunities for people to use their smartphones to dig for keys and prizes, just as the contestants did in the show. Using Mnet's patented HARK technology, a watermark in the TV broadcast ensured viewers had to watch the TV show for the App to trigger and allow them to play.

Over 250,000 people downloaded the app and increased their engagement in the show. Most players also tuned into every episode, driving frequency, impact and audience. The Big Adventure app quickly became the number one free app in iTunes and continued to dominate the charts across the series. In fact it was number one more times in 2014 than Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram or even Candy Crush Saga, at times having 18,000 people playing per second. On average each player dug 18 holes (in their lounge room floor) and viewed six minutes of sponsor content.

Kurt Burnette, chief revenue officer of Seven West Media said, "We continue to engage with our audiences and our marketing partners in new and effective ways as we accelerate the delivery of our content across every platform and device. The mobile element of The Big Adventure and the subsequent public recognition provides a clear indication of where we are heading as we deliver our owned and created content to our audiences beyond the power of broadcast television, using the power of our broadcast television. Mnet has proven to be a highly creative and proactive partner in the mobile space to help deliver on that objective."
Travis Johnson, CEO of Mnet, said The Big Adventure offered a unique opportunity to create deep engagement via mobile. "The work with Channel 7 on the app and the Silver award clearly demonstrates the impact of a great client partnership. The benefit of our HARK technology is two-fold; it provides a magical interactive experience for viewers, and for advertisers it ensures 100% attention to the program and their communication. We are thrilled with this recognition from Festival of Media."

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