Carl?s Jr. and Hardee?s are using augmented reality, SMS and a mobile application to help promote Sony Pictures? upcoming ?The Amazing Spider-Man? film.

The campaign is part of a marketing initiative around a new grilled cheese hamburger available at Carl?s Jr. and Hardee?s restaurants. In addition to mobile, television, radio, Web and video are also planned for the campaign.

?The mobile app is part of Sony's marketing for The Amazing Spider-Man ? our brands have been integrated into the app and guests can unlock achievements and get additional content when they scan a marker in our restaurants,? said Beth Mansfield, director of public relations at CKE Restaurants, Carpinteria, CA. 
 
?The text-to-win feature is part of a separate deal with Dr. Pepper and Playstation for the cup promotion,? she said.
 
?While the text and mobile components are with different partners, both resonate well with our demographic of young, hungry guys ? men 18-34 years old.?

CKE Restaurants franchises and operates 3,243 Carl?s Jr. and Hardee?s locations in 42 states in the United States and 25 countries.

Mobile web
The Carl?s Jr. and Hardeee?s campaign builds on a similar partnership that the companies had for the first Spider-Man film in 2002.

To participate in the campaign, consumers can download the The Amazing Spider-Man Augmented Reality app, which is available for free download on both iPhone and Android devices.

The app is focused on augmented reality and can be used in-store to unlock content.

Cutouts of characters from the film are placed in restaurants with a marker on them that users can point their devices at to watch Spider-Man come to life. Additionally, users can unlock badges and share content via Facebook and Twitter.

In total, there are eight different pieces of content that users can unlock via the app.

Users can also learn more about the film?s plot and cast via the app.

Additionally, the restaurant chains are running a text-to-win sweepstakes on 40-once collector cups to let consumers vie for a chance at winning prizes, including Playstation consoles and video games.

Each cup includes a unique code that users can enter via SMS or on the company?s Web site. To enter the sweepstakes via text, users can send the code printed on the cup to 87963 through July 17.

Here are the cups that feature the text-to-win campaign

Multichannel campaign
The Carl?s Jr. and Hardee?s campaign is an example of how marketers can tie mobile into a broader marketing campaign.

Instead of being seen as an add-on to campaigns, mobile is increasingly becoming a separate medium that includes separate goals.

Additionally, by targeting consumers while they are in restaurants, Carl?s Jr. and Hardee?s are able to take advantage of consumers when the film?s promotion is top of mind.

This is not the first mobile initiative from Carl?s Jr. and Hardee?s.

For example, the company launched its Happy Star Rewards app in 2010, which included a large marketing strategy with mobile advertising to promote the app (see story).

"We have noticed the increased trend in mobile use with our target customers of young, hungry guys and as with the Happy Star Rewards app, we are no strangers to using mobile marketing to drive consumers to our locations," Ms. Mansfield said.

"But we also know it is just as important to reward them for their patronage," she said.

"Being able to do that via a channel they typically interact with more than any other on a daily basis is something our customers appreciate and helps us to create more long-term loyalty."

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York