Pepsi, Gatorade and Lays recently launched a mobile campaign to promote their NHL Big Experience contest, which gives hockey fans the chance to win four tickets to three major hockey events — the Stanley Cup finals, the All-Star game and the Winter Classic — as well as $500 in spending money.
Branded banner ads are displayed on The Hockey News Mobile, a downloadable application for Blackberry that serves content from The Hockey News.
The application pushes out content such as injury reports, scores, stats and photos several times a day.
When users click on the banner, they can opt to have an e-mail sent to their phone outlining contest details. Clicking the ad does not drive the user away from the app, but only opens a dialogue box, explained Gaurav Jain, VP of business development for Polar Mobile, which developed the application.
“The application already has the user’s e-mail address so it’s pushed to the user’s inbox right away,” he said. “This way, users can respond to the e-mail and enroll in the contest at their leisure, as opposed to having to stop and enter registration information right away.”
That e-mail directs users to a Web site, www.nhl.com/big3, where they can register to win the sweepstakes.
“True fans are thirsty for hockey information anytime ? whether it be news, results, stats [or] opinions,” Gilad Coppersmith, managing director at OMD, Pepsi, Gatorade and Lays’ media agency. “Mobile allows us to connect with them 24 hours a day wherever they are, but at their invitation only, which is important.”
Since its launch in mid-October, the application been downloaded more than 13,000 times. The banner ad has received over 125,000 impressions and 1,200 user opt-ins for the e-mail. Winners will be chosen November 3.
