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Chex Party Mix bolsters social media impressions via mobile

General Mills? Chex Party Mix is leveraging mobile to help the brand rack up Facebook ?Likes? through a new advertising campaign.

The Chex Mix mobile ads are running inside the Pandora iPhone application. The marketing effort helps the brand marry its social and mobile initiatives.

?Given the topicality of the campaign which is running during the holidays, offering recipes to help make a Chex Party Mix may also encourage more "Likes" from consumers,? said Isabella Lin, content director at Appitalism, New York.

?Consumers who enjoy Chex as their breakfast cereal of choice may be curious enough about Chex Party Mix to ?Like? the page to find out who to create the mix at home in just 15 minutes,? she said.

?If this campaign was running at other times of the year, the lure of recipes may not be enough to get consumers to ?Like? the Chex Facebook page and special offers such as discount coupons and product trials might need to be added to the campaign.?

Ms. Lin is not affiliated with Chex. She commented based on her expertise on the subject.

Chex did not meet press deadline.

Mobile recipes
The mobile banner ads feature the Chex Party Mix logo and a picture of the product.

The ad?s copy encourages consumers to tap to find recipes.

When users tap on the banner ad, they are directed to the Chex Facebook page, where they can see what others are saying about the brand.

Chex regularly posts recipes that incorporate its products to Facebook.

The links for the recipes direct users to pages on Chex?s Web site, meaning that users have to pinch and zoom to read the recipes.

Even though the content is not optimized for mobile devices, the campaign helps the cereal brand tie its mobile and social initiatives together.

Chex's Facebook page

Mobile is social
Social media continues to be a top mobile activity for consumers.

Therefore, running a mobile campaign to increase Facebook ?Likes? is a smart marketing move for Chex.

As consumers become more comfortable interacting with ads on smaller screens, it is crucial that marketers give consumers an upfront value for clicking on banner ads.

In this case, the incentive is a recipe, which could help consumers who are looking for new snacks to mix up.

Even though the initiative is simple, it is effective in achieving the campaign?s goal of increasing its social media footprint.

?If the users are Chex Mix fans, of course, they will link to Facebook content from this mobile ad,? Ms. Lin said.

?But, the truth is, the campaign itself does not make such a big impact ? ?Get the recipes? is not sufficient enough to promote or influence consumers,? she said. ?Mobile advertising is extremely competitive today and advertisers should think about offering more than just recipes.?

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