April 2009

Triggering customer engagement
through mobile activation
Publisher and mobile provider devise text messaging contest to help print
advertisers build brand awareness and promote sales

With many marketing and advertising budgets being reduced by 20 percent due to the recession, marketers are increasingly being asked to do more with less. Some have looked to SMS text messaging as a more economical and measurable medium than other options. Mobile text messaging provides brands with the opportunity to connect to more than 21 million Canadian consumers, where texting is chosen over social media outlets three to one (Harris/Decima Survey, September 2008).
Noticing the change in media consumption habits and the challenges faced by advertisers, Pacific Newspaper Group (PNG), a division of Canwest Publishing Inc. and the publisher of The Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers, was actively seeking a cost-effective way to help its advertising customers leverage their print and online ad buys, while building brand awareness and driving sales.

The challenge
To that end, PNG teamed with iamota, a leading provider of interactive text messaging and mobile marketing services, to identify how mobile might add value to existing print and online advertising and promotions platforms. “Passive and traditional advertising techniques are quickly being augmented with mobile activation triggers, with the ultimate goal of creating a more engaged customer base,” explains iamota CEO Pete Smyth.

Other challenges
On a modest budget and with limited risk exposure, the mobile text messaging option needed to be tested on a large enough scale to provide quantifiable ROI results, while gathering enough data and feedback to determine where and how mobile might add customer value. Ultimately, the identified “text messaging solution” would need to engage readers, and be straightforward enough for advertising customers to understand and sales representatives to sell.
After some discussion, PNG and iamota determined that a contest would provide a strong test platform.

Their rationale was based on the following considerations:

• The adoption of mobile text messaging is becoming more commonplace;
• New media – Web and mobile – are intrinsically connected;
• PNG had used mobile for a previous contest, so there was a benchmark against which it could compare results;
• A contest provides a short, structured promotion period that can be effectively managed with a modest budget;
• Contests receive strong promotional coverage in both newspapers and on Web sites;
• Contests are subscription drivers that require limited training for sales reps (consider the difference between learning about a 21-day contest rather than an entirely new sales platform); and
• A text-based contest is a low-cost, high impact solution with precise measurability.

As Smyth explains, “While SMS has some limitations in the amount of content that can presented (maximum 136 characters), it should be the foundation for any mobile marketing initiative. Because of the reach and ease of use of SMS, brands should start with text and evolve to more sophisticated mobile solutions such as mobile Web experiences.”

The campaign
PNG teamed with iamota to activate and manage a text-based contest designed to give readers of The Vancouver Sun and The Province, the chance to win daily prizes valued at $500 and multiple entries toward a grand prize trip to Las Vegas valued at $5,000, over a 21-day period. Each text-based entry was designed to trigger a unique ad exposure for participating advertising customers and mobile users who had opted in to receive daily reminders throughout the duration of the contest. These included text-based ads delivered via iamota’s ad balancing algorithm.

One week prior to launch, the contest was promoted in The Vancouver Sun and The Province on the radio and online to encourage sign up and registration.

The contest launched January 21, 2009 and ran for 21 days. Each day, one keyword was published in print within The Vancouver Sun and The Province. Another keyword was published online on the contest Web site: www.21daystovegas.com. Readers searched for the daily keywords and then sent a text with one or both of them to a short code to receive daily offers and contest entries for the daily prize and the grand prize. Unique keywords were used to test the comparative opt in rates between the two channels (print versus online) and encourage participants to “double down” by entering daily with both the print and online keywords. This allowed PNG to see how each keyword and medium performed in real time.

The daily prizes were supplied by 12 advertising partners and every contest participant received a discount/offer from each of the advertisers. These discounts and offers rotated randomly to ensure equal brand exposure throughout the entire contest period. Although participants could enter the contest once at any point and did not have to play all 21 days, players were encouraged to search for keywords and text them in again via automatic reminders. Opting out of these reminders by replying “STOP” was also an alternative.

Results
When the contest ended, 7,830 entries had been received. “The integrated campaign provided a unique offering and the response rate from the readers’ perspective exceeded expectations and the past performance of other mobile contests,” notes Chanelle Dupre, manager of promotions at The Vancouver Sun and The Province. “There is clear indication that readers are now more comfortable using text messaging as costs don’t seem to be prohibiting participation.”

PNG was delighted by the text campaign’s measurability and the real-time analytics provided by iamota’s mobile on-demand platform. Of the 7,830 entries, 58 percent originated from the two print publications and 42 percent were generated online. Fifty percent of contest participants entered more than once and fifteen percent entered more than ten times over the 21 days.

These results proved that mobile can create more value and opportunities to connect brands with consumers and increase engagement levels by drawing consumers into advertisers’ “stores,” whether they are brick and mortar or online. In fact, mobile meets this requirement better than other communications channels. The technology offers the ability to mobilize traditional marketing campaigns and enhance or extend customer communications and interactions.

iamota is a leading provider of interactive text messaging and mobile marketing services that help engage consumers and build sales. The firm’s unique blend of on-demand mobile technology, strategic mobile planning and creativity helps brands identify the right mobile tactics necessary to optimize audience interaction and generate greater ROI. Based in Vancouver BC, the company is privileged to service a customer base that includes some of North America’s most reputable brands. For more information, please visit www.iamota.com or text “IAMOTA” to 333777.