The SMS campaign promoted Twentieth Century Fox’s “A Good Day To Die Hard” film. Big Red Soda worked with Tatango on the campaign.

“For Big Red Soda it was about using a mobile technology in their promotion that their customers actually used on a daily basis,” said Derek Johnson, CEO of Tatango, Seattle.

“When looking at customers using both feature and smartphones, SMS is that predominate technology used across all platforms making it the best option when running a national SMS campaign like this,” he said.

Mobile gulp
The SMS text-to-win campaign ran from January through the first half of February.

The calls-to-action were placed in Winn Dixie, Jewel and Kroger grocery stores in 12 cities.

Consumers were prompted to text in the keyword MCCLANE – who is a character in the film – to the short code 33733.

Users could then text back their ZIP code for a chance to be entered into the contest.

Additionally, consumers could watch the film’s trailer by clicking through a link in the message.

Once the contest was over, Big Red Soda used the ZIP codes to alert consumers about how they could redeem the tickets at their local movie theater.

Far-reaching marketing
Nowadays, marketers have a wealth of mobile mediums to engage consumers with.

However, SMS remains a workhorse with its wide reach.

Additionally, a mobile device is never far from a consumer’s hand.

Asking users to text in a keyword is a simple way for brands to ask consumers to get involved with marketing.

The key though is making sure that the call-to-action is simple and there is a clear incentive for texting in.

In this case, using a consumer’s ZIP code can be used by Big Red Soda after the campaign to get a better sense of where their consumers are and what they are interested in.

“I think too many brands are making their mobile promotions too confusing with QR codes, mobile app downloads and integrating Bluetooth,” Mr. Johnson said.

“While that technology is cool, and may win your agency on record an award for innovation, this doesn’t mean that your customers will actually engage with the campaign,” he said.

“By running an SMS campaign, you’re looking at the highest technology adoption rate, click-through rates and engagement, which is why I think SMS still leads the way for simple, engaging mobile campaigns.”

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York