LOS ANGELES ? A Paramount Pictures executive that spoke at the Mobile Marketing Forum revealed that his company is moving from using mobile advertising as a branding tool to using the channel to drive actual conversion via ticket sales. 

Paramount uses mobile advertising in conjunction with other marketing channels for each and every movie premier. The movie studio has been in the mobile marketing space for about 4-plus years now. 

?Every movie has a different target and different message and the value we get with mobile ads differs based on that,? said Michael Rosenberg, executive director for advertising and new media at Paramount Pictures, Hollywood, CA. 

?Some of our mobile ads are just about branding,? he said. ?So for example there was a value in simplicity of the idea behind the Jackass campaign. 

?Other times it is about getting people to interact with our content and make people aware of what we are doing. The next level, which we are going to strive for more and more in 2012 is driving actual ticket sales.?

Mack McKelvey, senior vice president of Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD, moderated the Paramount keynote. 

Paramount Pictures used expandable rich-media mobile advertising to get the word out about Jackass 3D worldwide.

The ad consisted of a mobile game that resembled the famous Wack-A-Mole game, except Jackass character?s head came out of the holes.

After users played the game they could share their results on Facebook, or visit the Jackass 3D dedicated microsite.

Consumers could also watch a trailer for the movie within the ad unit.

The campaign had tremendous interaction and the game was replayed by users more than a third of the time. 

?We use mobile for every single movie release,? Mr. Rosenberg said. ?There are always movie fans who are mobile so it makes sense for us. 

?Every film is different and therefore our use of mobile differs with each program,? he said. 

Paramount had a slew of blockbusters it released over the summer including Kung Fu Panda 2, Super 8 and Transformers 3. 

All of these films were supported with unique mobile campaigns.

?We are now getting to the point where we would like to sell tickets via the mobile channel,? Mr. Rosenberg said. ?So, bringing the customer directly to Fandango to buy tickets.?

Paramount is at a point where it has all this great content and the tools to work in mobile. Now the company needs to figure out how to use all of this to actually get people to buy tickets. 

Mr. Rosenberg said this will be what Paramount will focus on in 2012. 

In terms of location-based advertising Mr. Rosenberg had an interesting take. He said that going to the movies is a 2.5-3 hour commitment. People walking past a theater do not necessarily have the time to go an see a movie right on the spot so location-based ads may not work for Paramount. 

The opportunities for Paramount in mobile is driving ticket sales through engaging content. 

?This is a small device in our pockets,? M. Rosenberg said. ?Don?t be confined by the size of the device.

?Mobile is no longer about a banner or a banner that expands,? he said. ?It is about using the device for what people are using them for. 

?Engage them in meaningful ways. NFC is coming soon and it will be a tremendous tool for us.?

Mr. Rosenberg after his session