SANTA ANA, Calif. and DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Aug. 28, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- go2(r) (www.go2.com), a leading mobile media company in the United States, and Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, today announced that Office Depot has selected go2 for the company's first national mobile marketing program. Office Depot will now offer customers on-the-go services that enable them to locate the nearest Office Depot store and receive information regarding new products and services directly on their mobile device.
"The mobile phone has become a huge medium for companies looking to gain a competitive edge in a crowded marketplace," said Lee Hancock, CEO and founder of go2. "Our extensive network of media-rich content and years of industry experience provides companies like Office Depot a perfect opportunity to enter into this emerging mobile market."
When accessing the go2 Office Depot site from a mobile phone, customers can enjoy features such as store specials, sweepstakes, coupons and much more. go2's advanced location-based services (LBS) provide precise and accurate information of Office Depot locations while on-the-go.
"Office Depot is very excited to roll out this new service offering that will provide customers with another way to connect to Office Depot while away from the home or office," said Kristin Micalizio, vice president of direct sales for Office Depot. "Office Depot has always been on the forefront of new technologies, and this is another example of the company's dedication to finding new and innovative ways to service our customers' needs."
Every month, mobile phone users access go2's Mobile Content Network more than two million times and view more than 20 million pages of local information over web-enabled phones. As of late 2006, go2's Mobile Content Network had delivered more than one billion mobile page views of local search and content information. According to M:Metrics, a mobile market analyst firm, go2 is one of the top five most visited mobile search sites in the U.S., along with AOL, Google, MSN and Yahoo!
go2 Office Depot can be visited for free online or from any web-enabled mobile phone at: wap.go2OfficeDepot.com. To receive a direct link to the mobile site, text "od" to 462411.
About go2(r)
go2 owns and operates numerous online and mobile websites as integral components of the go2 Mobile Content Network, including go2 Movies(r), go2 Dining(tm), go2 Golf(tm), go2 Travel(tm), go2 Winter Sports(tm) and over 300 mobile websites dedicated to specific colleges and universities throughout the United States (e.g. go2UCLA, go2Harvard, etc.). go2 was launched in 1999 as the first mobile, local search and content provider, and since 2001, go2 has delivered more than one billion WAP page views of local search and content to mobile phone users. go2 websites have industry-leading distribution through one-of-a-kind multi-category placements on the wireless Web menus of most major U.S. carriers, providing mobile users with easy access to information on-the-go, including driving directions, horoscopes, magazine articles, movie times, sports trivia, travel information, weather and more. All go2 mobile content sites are fully integrated with any GPS-like automatic location-based services (LBS) provided by wireless carriers, and feature one-touch calling and turn-by-turn directions together with detailed information on thousands of U.S. businesses.
go2 Advertisers include ABC, American Express, AOL, Delta, ExxonMobil, Holiday Inn, MasterCard, Nokia, SBC, Shell, Sony and Visa. Headquartered in Santa Ana, Orange County, Calif., go2 is a privately held company. go2 holds or licenses several U.S. patents for location-based, local search and directory services on mobile devices. For more information, visit www.go2.com.
About Office Depot
Office Depot provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company.
Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., Office Depot has annual sales of over $15.4 billion, and employs approximately 52,000 associates around the world. Currently, the Company sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 43 countries.
Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel -- from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. As of June 30, 2007, Office Depot had 1,186 retail stores in North America and another 369 stores, either company-owned, licensed or franchised, in other parts of the world. Office Depot serves a wide range of customers through a dedicated sales force, telephone account managers, direct mail offerings, and multiple web sites. With $4.7 billion in online sales during the last twelve months, the Company is also one of the world's largest e-commerce retailers.
Office Depot's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.
go2(r), the go2 Mobile Content Network(tm) and the family of terms carrying the "go2" prefix are registered and unregistered trademarks or service marks of UDS Directory Corp., dba go2.