Mobile media service provider Azuki is using its technology platform to create, deploy and monetize new mobile services for Automotive Networks Corp.'s WheelsTV.

The platform allows WheelsTV to deliver interactive, personalized content and a social networking experience on mobile around WheelsTV's archive of film, photos and car facts.

"The Azuki MashMedia Platform will allow WheelsTV to extend its popular 'My Garage' feature to mobile handsets," said John Tremblay, vice president of marketing at Azuki, Acton, MA. "WheelsTV is able to deliver personalized rich content aligned to consumer tastes and enable viral socialization around WheelsTV content between its main Web site and new mobile channel.

"As part of its own direct to consumer push, WheelsTV is also now able to become a much more attractive place for advertisers and brands to sponsor advertisements, since the Azuki-enabled service facilitates targeted and contextual advertising," he said.

"The end-experience drives consumer adoption by ensuring content relevancy and new levels of engagement and user interactivity."

WheelsTV is a source for automotive content syndicated through such partners as AutoTrader, MSN, AOL, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Vehix and Comcast.

WheelsTV is unique in that it provides a social networking platform for 28 million vehicle enthusiasts and 196 million vehicle owners in the United States. The brand offers news, information and entertainment for consumers and enthusiasts on the Internet and mobile devices.

The Azuki MashMedia Platform is transparently inserted between WheelsTV's content servers and Web-enabled mobile devices.

The delivery of content is virtualized based on consumer tastes, device capabilities and current network performance.

"WheelsTV is excited about the partnership with Azuki Systems because they've given us ground-breaking technology which truly brings our content from the first and second screen to the third screen," said Jim Barisano, CEO of Automotive Networks.

"The Azuki platform is a perfect companion to our new automotive community, Wheelstv.net, which allows users to share their passion for the automobile through photos, videos and blogging," he said.

The technology enables assembly and delivery of contextual media and native interactivity to fosters viral distribution of services.

Only 5 percent to 10 percent of consumers are even experimenting with rich media on mobile devices due to challenges with user navigation, media discovery, lack of personalization and primitive forms of interactivity, according to Azuki's Mr. Tremblay.

"Azuki's MashMedia Platform enables WheelsTV to deliver a deep catalog of rich media to millions of car enthusiasts on both lower-end feature phones, as well as higher-end smartphones such as the iPhone [and] Windows Mobile or Symbian mobile devices," Mr. Tremblay said.

"Expanding upon WheelsTV's new Web 2.0 and social networking online presence on PCs and Macs, the new mobile service enables car enthusiasts to continue their experiences on mobile while facilitating interactivity across the Web, social networks such as Facebook and SMS," he said.

Advertising is the primary means for content publishers to monetize services on mobile.

However, mobile advertising has historically been limited to text and banner ads. It is also a challenge to deploy mobile advertisements that don't seem like clutter on a much smaller screen for consumers.

"Utilizing the Azuki MashMedia Platform, WheelsTV is now able to raise the bar for higher-value forms of advertizing by means of contextually relevant rich media ads," Mr. Tremblay claimed.

"By dynamically inserting relevant ads aligned to the underlying WheelsTV high-quality automotive content and a consumer's profile, advertisers and agencies can bring similar forms of campaign creativity to mobile as with the other two screens -- TV and computer," he said.

Limited inventory may have subdued growth of the mobile advertising industry. But the Azuki platform is designed to create new inventory around the WheelsTV service.

With connectors into several ad networks, Azuki is able to provide a range of access to media buyers across various outlets and leading brand advertisers.

"By embracing the Azuki technology we're able to keep our users active, not only on our Web site, but also on the go at wheelstv.mobi," Mr. Barisano said.

The new WheelsTV service on mobile is currently in private beta. It will be expanded to the broader public in the coming months.

Traditionally, mobile services have taken too long to roll out, often have limited reach to consumers since they have required an application download and offer limited forms of monetization for the provider of such services, Mr. Tremblay said.

"The ability to break down video into manageable, snackable clips by Azuki is a terrific new feature," Mr. Barisano said. "It makes our videos even more engaging by allowing users to zero-in on parts of the video that are most important to them.

"This is especially useful for those who are in the car-buying process, interested in a particular segment from an auto show, or who don't have time to watch the full video and want to jump right to their favorite part," he said. "We think this redefines the meaning of video on-demand and is its truest form.

"Azuki's platform is a perfect fit for our community site because it syncs up with all of the community's content from user-generated videos to professional content and news alerts. Anyone who drives a car can now truly lives out their automotive lifestyle with WheelsTV.net and Azuki Systems."