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Today’s news from France …

class=”leg”> Screenshot of the rocket lively symbol of the upcoming launch of Free Mobile, which appears on the site of the operator by entering a code. DR

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suspense should end tomorrow . The operator Free , holder of the fourth mobile phone license, sent the invitations for Monday morning a press conference to be held tomorrow at 8:30. As usual, Free is laconic. No evidence on the subject of the conference is provided, but the doubt is not allowed: Free is indeed required to disclose its commercial offers mobile before January 12th , deadline set by the Telecom Authority, ARCEP. Eagerly awaited, supply should “halve the bill” of the French mobile , according to the promise of Xavier Niel, CEO of Iliad, parent company of Free. This afternoon, the latter issued a second message on his Twitter account : “The long sobs of violins of autumn lull my heart with monotonous languor. ” Xavier Niel did not hesitate to take these verses of Paul Verlaine used June 5, 1944 to announce the imminent Allied landing in Normandy.

This continues an incredible “buzz”, while mystery and orchestrated by the group shots of coded messages and drawings to decipher, enigmatic phrases and even real-fake blogs. Impossible to disentangle the news of the poisoning. The challenge: guess the launch date of the service and especially its future rates. The sauce is: fans of technology, which increases the Free winks, engage in this virtual treasure hunt.

Rockets and Mamie Cantal

kick is given on December 13 with the first message sent from the Twitter account of Xavier Niel, “the Rocket IS on the launch pad” (“the rocket is the launch pad”). Include: ARCEP has given the green light to launch Free Mobile. The metaphor of the rocket will then be well exploited: one of them is accompanied by mysterious figures and Letters for feeding to the speculation. A particular number is identified by geeks: 1337, which refers to “leet speak”, the writing of computer programmers. The verdict of the Internet falls: Free Mobile will be launched at 1:37 p.m., is to know the date. Free computer drives the fans even further on its website, another animated rocket appears when typing the code says “Konami” , well known to gamers in the 1980s.

Another object of buzz: the famous “Mamie Cantal,” whose name appears even in the source code of a page. This grandmother is fictitious birth in a statement by Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom at Figaro : “The grandmother of Cantal does not need the same offer a geek in Paris.” The opportunity is too good: an account Twitter is created, and a Facebook page and especially an blog where the old lady gratifies the users to compare the different mobile operators. She herself began to speculate about the intentions of Free. Of course, there is nothing to prove that the operator is really behind this true-false campaign …

clients, themselves, including Free geeks that made so many calls from the foot, take the game When a Free Mobile Facebook page , maybe official, is created, fans flock: 25,500 people” like “the page on Monday morning. “It’s time for stats,” a fun user who assesses the frequency of adherence to “340″ likes “on time”.

A logic of communication comparable to Apple

Pouy Gregory, Director of New Media agency Nurun, “the size and the orchestration of this buzz is unique in France.” “The logic of communication is comparable to Apple, he adds. Nothing is sent to journalists, information flows, but we do not know where they come from. However, the values ??are different: Apple argues the perfection of its products while Free comes as the Robin Hood will liberalize the market. He wants to position themselves as David against Goliath, even if it is really David. “

Free

are currently pulled it off. “We talk for years of its offer as it does not even exist!” Says Gregory Pouy. While telephone operators have sharpened their weapons at the approach of a price war, customers do not hide their impatience. “This strategy is very risky, says Gregory Pouy. The buzz over the long term creates high expectations and a desire but the offer of Free could disappoint. ” Verdict tomorrow morning.

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