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Campaign Metrics Revealed for BlackBerry Pearl Mobile Sweepstakes

Mobile marketing firm conVISUAL has stats out for its recent mobile ad campaign tied to the launch of the BlackBerry Pearl from RIM.

The basics: The campaign had a special focus on approaching the designated female and male target group aged between 20 and 39 years old.

A mobile landing page was created informing respondents about the features of the BlackBerry Pearl and enabling the participants to take part in a viral raffle. They were offered the chance to win a new BlackBerry Pearl for themselves and for their friends.

To benefit from the viral element all friends were additionally informed via an MMS about the promotion.

Female- and male- specific mobile content ads, partly animated and placed in the appropriate “Vodafone live!” mobile portal section, referred to the landing page, the raffle and a special BlackBerry Pearl offer in the Vodafone online shop.

The aspect of cross media promotion was implemented by sending out e-mail newsletters and running a radio promotion, also offering consumers the chance to win a new BlackBerry Pearl and/or leading to the Vodafone online shop.

The newsletter was designed according to the look & feel of the mobile banner ads and subdivided into a female and a male oriented version. The campaign ended with a “consolation” MMS to all participants who did not win with a special offer in the Vodafone shop.

The results:

• 17,000 click-throughs

• 38,000 landing page impressions

• 4,500 raffle participants - a 25% conversion rate

My take: I like the gender-specific messaging - I can see how two very different messages could be sent to men and women. Interesting that double the impressions came from outside the mobile element - meaning the email component and radio spots must have paid off.

I would also have liked to have seen stats on the mobile ad-click through rate v. a total number (I doubt it was very high; then again, readers know I'm not a big fan of mobile display advertising).

The viral nature of this campaign is appealing. Factor in that this appears to have been a Vodafone-specific offer, and it looks like a winner.

Kudos all around.

Read more here.

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Johnsonville Sausage Serves Up Mobile Marketing Campaign For Super Bowl

We know at least some of the players are going to be ground into sausage during Sunday's big game.

No wonder a sausage maker wants in on the action.

Johnsonville Sausage is working with A2Web to run a text-to-win mobile marketing campaign during the game.

What I can't tell is if Johnsonville is actually running spots during the national telecast, or simply borrowing interest in the game (...and isn't that kind of cheating?).

Either way, it'll run through February 28, and fans can enter by mailing in an entry form, entering online at www.johnsonville.com/gameday or by texting “football” or “gameday” to 48775 on their mobile phone.

At stake: The Grand Prize of Coleman Roadtrip packages that include one Gas Grill LXE, two portable deck chairs, one steel-belted cooler, one blender, and twelve coupons for Johnsonville products. Ten first prizes will also be awarded consisting of one soft-sided cooler and twelve Johnsonville coupons. In addition, one hundred second prizes will be awarded consisting of one hard bottom cooler and four Johnsonville coupons.

Okay, they could have gone a little more exciting on the prizes. But it's Johnsonville's first foray into mobile as part of an integrated campaign that includes television ads (again, unclear if it's actually during the game), online banner ads, ESPN Radio, media tour, FSI drop and POS promotions.

We'll see if it scores a touchdown.

Get the full story, here.

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Ford Flex's New Mobile Marketing Campaign: A Cut Above The Rest?

Who needs the Super Bowl when you can market in barber shops, instead?

In an unexpected new mobile marketing campaign for the Ford Flex, Dallas-Fort Worth Ford dealers will use Real Content Group's branded mobile phone text channels (uVIP Text Channels) and event and retail based mobile kiosks (bCODE) to turn neighborhood barber shops and salons into a major automotive marketing destination. 

Now, you might be wondering: Is this the same company that is using mobile so well for the Ford Ka?

Well, Ka was a corporate-level campaign and this is local, so it may make perfect sense. I think this is also supposed to be kind of multi-culti, in the way that barber shops have become exactly so, and is in the tone of the decidedly Scion-meets-Ford Explorer Flex.

According to a statement, the mobile marketing campaign includes Ford Flex test drives, celebrity appearances, a chance to win weekly prizes after signing up for the Ford Mobile uVIP Club and access to Ford sponsored events, including Dallas' red carpet Flex Your Style event in late February 2009.

All very cool - so kudos to Dallas Ford dealers for their creativity in building "buzz."

Sorry.

And hey, hair can also sound like heir - or "scion" - so maybe there's more than meets the eye. 

Sorry again.

Read all about the campaign, here.

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The Super Bowl & Your Cell Phone

Strange, but nobody seems to be clamoring to have buddies come over to watch the Super Bowl on their cell phones.

In a world when 52-inch flat screens seem always to be within eyesight, the Bowl has always been the ultimate big screen event.

I have yet to hear if any big name marketers are leveraging the mobile phone in just about every viewer's hand as a response mechanism - though it has figured in prominently in past Super Bowls.

But one thing's for sure - fans will be using mobile phones to augment the viewing of the actual game.

More than 1 million Sprint subscribers have signed up for its "NFL Mobile Live" program, which will offer recaps of the Cardinals and Steelers' seasons, rosters, stats and video highlights, according to MSNBC.

And Super Bowl related content is available from ESPN, all the major television networks and several of the other mobile services carriers.

As MSNBC points out, the Super Bowl is different than events like Barack Obama's history-making inauguration and this past summer's Olympic games, as such events are now routinely viewed from computers and even mobile phones during the work day. The Super Bowl's on Sunday, and it's an event shared by family and friends.

Now pass the nachos and give me the phone.

I'm hoping there are some interesting mobile calls-to-action when the commercials start.

Read more, here.

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Men's Mag's 'FHM Girls' Go Mobile

The lad mags are landing in your pocket.

Well, that's actually been the case for years now, what with Maxim's Beer-Buddy-To-Go and Maxim Girls mobile offerings.

But now, Bauer Media's FHM is joining the frenzy, which will include mobile graphics, audio, video and messaging for the North American market, direct from the UK-based pub, according to Mobile Entertainment.

Canada's Airborne Media is providing the mobile solutions to make it happen. I believe Airborne enables mobile content from Maxim, as well.

Somewhere along the way I lost what "FHM" actually stands for.

Reader "ThorB" reminded me it stands for For Him Magazine.

Maybe now it should be rechristened For Him Mobile.

Read all about it, here.

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Scanbuy's 2D Barcode App To Come Pre-Loaded on LG Camera Phones

Of course, I'm not sure it means much, if there aren't standards so that any 2D barcode scanner will work with any 2D barcode.

But still - it's a step in the right direction.

Scanbuy is announcing this morning that its 2D barcode app - which enables a consumer to scan a 2D barcode with a camera phone in order to access product information and perhaps reviews and instant purchase capabilities - is going to be pre-loaded on new LG mobile phones.

It's also available for download here.

The reason it's an important announcement is that it presages a time when what is already the ultimate activation mechanism for print, broadcast, outdoor, online and direct mail advertising gains the ease of use needed to bring mobile content, marketing and commerce to everyday consumers everywhere.

Read more, here.

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Deloitte 2009 Media Predictions: Bullish On Mobile

Mobile advertising is a key area to watch this year, according to Deloitte's 2009 media forecast.

As the consulting firm puts it: "More able than ever before to carry advertising, mobile phones are at their most ubiquitous—and there is a more mature understanding of what mobile can and cannot deliver in advertising...Mobile advertising will really take off when advertising can be sent to the entire mobile community with a single click."

I wonder if maybe Deloitte is perhaps being too loose (or maybe too broad) with the term "mobile advertising," as hinted at by that last line, which has little to do with an ad buy.

Mobile advertising will indeed see much investment and experimentation in 2009. But the result of that will, I think, prove lackluster - at least with current interruption models, which are borrowed from other media and really fail to leverage the power of this medium.

See how brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Warner Bros., Pepsi and Procter & Gamble are truly putting mobile to good use, starting here.

For more on the Deloitte study, click here.

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T-Mobile Markets Via Faux Dancing 'Flash Mob' In Rail Station

File this under: It's about freakin' time.

A mobile carrier is finally tapping mobile social phenomena in its marketing.

Not a U.S. carrier, of course, but still.

Creativity is reporting that as part of its "Life is For Sharing Campaign, T-Mobile (with Saatchi London) literally brought a musical playlist to life last week at Liverpool Street station with 350 dancers who start performing a routine amid commuters, seemingly out of nowhere.

The first video here showcases how the whole thing - including commuter reaction - was captured by hidden TV cameras. The second captures more of the public's reaction.

Why hasn't a U.S.-based mobile carrier pulled off anything this cool? 

Read more, here.

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Collision Course: SMS Worm Reportedly Steals Cash From Symbian Phones

Despite being long touted as the next big thing but never fully arriving, mobile is about to go through some serious growing pains. 

The FTC is being petitioned to ensure data protection from behavioral targeting technologies that would deliver highly targeted (some might say intrusively targeted) advertising to mobile handsets - a highly touted capability of Google's Android mobile operating system.

And now, m-commerce is taking a hit. According to AppScout, a text worm has been discovered that leaches money tied to a mobile phone account. According to pub, the worm affects phones using the Symbian operating system by sending a text message that instructs a small amount of money in the user's account to be transferred to another account. 

A few too many issues like that, and mobile commerce may never fully get off the ground.

Read more, here.

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Sephora Brings Product Reviews To Mobile Phones In-Store

In the digital age, beauty is in the eye of the reviewer.

High-end cosmetics retailer Sephora has announced the launch of a new mobile service that allows shoppers to easily browse product reviews from other consumers.

Product reviews are now a key part of the shopping experience – and in building confidence in purchase decisions.

According to Nielsen, eight out of 10 shoppers now routinely read product reviews before placing purchases. And 40 percent cite customer reviews as on one of the primary reasons they have bought from a retailer, online or off.

Perhaps most important of all, consumers are 2.5 times more strongly influenced by customer reviews than by a salesperson’s advice.

The beauty, if you will, of this particular solution (from Austin, TX-based BazaarVoice) is that the service is primarily accessible when the consumer is in the store or mall, as they access the reviews by looking up a key word or USP on product packaging (though they can also browse by category).

“We want to deliver the best client experience to our shoppers, wherever they shop,” said Julie Bornstein, SVP Sephora Direct. “[This service] allows us to amplify the voice of our clients by making reviews easily accessible through iPhone, Blackberry, and other mobile devices at m.sephora.com. In-store shoppers can simply read the reviews written on any product, or use top-rated products as a guide, to select the right lipstick or blush.”

Read all about it, here.

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