DNA test-markets The O2

Digital agency DNA has been appointed to develop online marketing for the launch of The O2, the entertainment venue on the site of the former Millennium Dome.

Digital agency DNA has been appointed to develop online marketing for the launch of The O2, the entertainment venue on the site of the former Millennium Dome.

The agency has been appointed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to develop a website to launch the venue and promote ticket sales for The O2, due to open next year. It won the contract after a four-way pitch.

The site will be launched later this year, followed by an online campaign. There are also plans to distribute information via mobile channels.

Chris Perry, managing director of DNA, said that the online element would be a core part of AEG’s strategy for the venue, and his firm would be working closely with offline agencies on the marketing campaigns.

The main element of the revamped Dome will be a 23,000 capacity arena. There will also be the Music Club, a theatre, cinema, exhibition space, bars and restaurants.

The site is sponsored by O2 in a &£6m-a-year deal, but owned by AEG. The two companies are working on a similar entertainment and sports arena in Berlin, to be called O2 World, which is due to open in 2008.

DNA is the second agency to be signed up by AEG, following the appointment of direct marketing agency Stephens Francis Whitson, part of Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest.