Pop star Justin Bieber has tapped mobile to keep connected to his widespread fan base and drive sales of ringtones and full-track downloads.

Island Def Jam Music Group, Mr. Bieber’s record label, wanted to expand the already viral nature of the artist, who began as a YouTube sensation. The 15-year-old singer, like most teens, lives on his phone, so the label thought it was imperative to have him accessible through the mobile medium.

“We recognized the importance of mobile for Justin’s core fan demographic and strove to ensure that all of Justin’s videos, news posts, music and experiences were communicated through this platform,” said Jules Ferree, director of digital marketing at Island Def Jam Music Group, New York.

“Whether Justin is shooting a new video, performing at Madison Square Garden, blogging at http://www.justinbiebermusic.com, dancing with Usher on ‘Ellen,’ or hanging with Taylor Swift and Diddy, his fans will know about it first, right in the palm of their hand,” she said.

Island Def Jam Music Group is a record label group that was formed in 1999 when Universal Music Group merged together two of its companies, Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. Island Def Jam is the largest label in the world with 400 artists on the label.

The mobile dance
Mr. Bieber has become the highest grossing artist in ringtone sales on Mozes.

The artsist stays connected with his fans through a mobile hotline that he updates consistently by sending out at least two new voice messages a month. The hotline also lets fans buy the latest ringtones of Mr. Bieber’s songs with the touch of a button.

On his official site at http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/, Mr. Bieber encourages fans to call his voice line at 404-665-3410 and join his mobile list via a customized widget.

In addition to accessing Mr. Bieber through voice and online, Island Def Jam Music Group uses Mozes’ direct link mobile campaign to drive traffic to specific songs from the artist’s new album “My World” on iTunes, as well as telling fans about his latest videos on YouTube.

Mr. Bieber has received over 106,000 voice messages from fans.

The voice line has received nearly 700,000 unique calls, resulting in over 15 percent of the callers joining his mobile fan list. On average, his number receives close to 10,000 calls a day.

Through Mr. Bieber’s use of voice, text and online strategies, Mozes said he has become one of the top voice line artists, generating almost 1.8 million mobile connections to date.

Here are two of the calls-to-action:

Wireless intimacy
Giving fans access to Mr. Bieber and his music is the record label’s top goal.

The strategy is to make fans feel invested in and genuinely in-the-know about their favorite artist and since many of Mr. Bieber’s fans are between ages 8-16 not all of them have a personal computer to connect with the artist, but many have a mobile phone.
 
“Mobile is allowing artists the ability to connect with fans like never before,” Ms. Ferree said. “Justin Bieber, in particular, is an artist who loves what he is doing, loves sharing it, and always wants to communicate his thankfulness to his fans.

“Mobile has proven to be one of the quickest and easiest way for him to do this,” she said.