Coca-Cola is continuing to sync its mobile and social media initiatives with a foursquare partnership that encourages users to check-in at their favorite parks for a chance at winning a grant.

Through the America Is Your Park campaign, consumers can vote for their favorite park by either checking in via their mobile device or by voting online. The campaign runs through July 15.
 
?Coca-Cola created the America Is Your Park campaign to encourage people to get out, get active and enjoy the outdoors together ? parks are the perfect place to do just that,? said Peter Callaro, group director of integrated marketing content at Coca-Cola North America, Atlanta.

?We made the park check-ins worth more points to inspire people to get outdoors, play and have fun ? all for a good cause,? he said.

?Budget cuts have left parks with little funds for restoration, and America Is Your Park also gives park-goers the chance to help their favorite parks win grants to improve activity areas in the park.?

Park on mobile
In order to cast a vote for their favorite park via foursquare, users must sync their accounts with Coca-Cola?s America is Your Park app.

Then when a consumer checks in, a park receives 100 points in the competition.

Coca-Cola will award grants to three parks at the end of the campaign. The park with the most votes will receive $100,000 to be used towards restoration and improvement.

The park that comes in second place will receive $50,000 and a grant of $25,000 will be given to the park coming in third place.

Consumers can also vote for their favorite park through a mobile site at https://livePositively.com/parks. When accessed through a desktop, the site loads as a Facebook app where users can find more information on the campaign and vote for their favorite park.

Compared to foursquare points, votes on the site ? whether mobile or desktop ? only count for one vote per park.

By awarding more points to a foursquare check-in, the campaign is aimed at getting consumers to interact with their handsets while they are out and about.

Mobile awareness
This is the third year that Coca-Cola has run the program, but it is the first to include a mobile component.

Unlike many check-in programs that dole out rewards as an incentive for users to check-in, Coca-Cola is taking a different approach with this campaign.

Not only does the campaign help spark a competition between consumers, but it could also lead to users voting multiple times for their favorite parks.

Social media and mobile go hand-in-hand and is a recipe that Coca-Cola has used in several recent campaigns for driving engagement.

For example, for this year?s Super Bowl campaign, Coca-Cola used a combination of social media and mobile to connect with sports fans in real time (see story).

Additionally, last year the company partnered with Natasha Bedingfield to promote a holiday campaign that included both a mobile and Facebook app (see story).

?The nature of our world today is anytime, anywhere access to our favorite things, especially on our smartphones, and we know people are on the go,? Mr. Callaro said.

?Whether people are at the park for a run or a picnic with their families, the America Is Your Park mobile site offers an easy, on-the-go way for people to support their favorite parks,? he said.

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