CBS will launch a radio campaign next week that leverages mobile call-outs to not only let consumers enter a sweepstakes, but also opt-in to receive SMS messages.

The upcoming campaign is part of a bigger strategy that CBS is carving out to mobilize on-air calls-to-actions for its radio programs. CBS is working with Zoove on this mobile initiative.

?We started with this last year ? we did a nationwide contest with 30 stations and a four-week contest,? said Ezra Kucharz, president at CBS Local Digital Media, New York.

?It is great for us because we can leverage all these things like text links and Web pages,? he said.

?We wanted to simplify how the contest works for consumers.?

Call to win
Eight, five-minute promotional windows each day will be allotted for a call-out for consumers to call **WIN for the chance to win $1000.

The CBS call-out will air across 34 stations in 19 markets. Some of the markets included in the campaign include San Francisco, St. Louis, Orlando, Dallas, Boston and Chicago.

The campaign runs from April 29 ? May 24 and will give away $1000 to listeners every Monday through Friday.

Once consumers dial **WIN, they are sent back a text message.

From there, consumers can opt-in to receive SMS alerts from CBS Local Offers, which is a great way for CBS to build up its database.

One hundred and sixty consumers will each win $1000 during the course of the campaign. These consumers will then be entered to win one $50,000 grand prize at the end of the campaign.

?We see more and more that listeners are very engaged with their mobile devices,? Mr. Kucharz said.

?When you think about it, in the past when someone heard something on the radio, they had to wait until they got home to Google it,? Mr. Kucharz said.

?That behavior is fundamentally changing,? he said. ?Consumers take their mobile device out right away to interact immediately, and these Zoove codes have helped with that experience.?

Past initiatives
The upcoming campaign is part of a bigger push from CBS to include mobile calls-to-action in radio broadcasts.

For example, CBS also used the **WIN number to give away ten trips for two to the 48th Country Music Awards recently.

During five days, the campaign generated more than 36,000 calls. Roughly nine percent of consumers who participated in the program opted-in to receive CBS local mobile alerts.

Additionally, 50 percent of the participating consumers called two or more times to enter the sweepstakes. Calls to **WIN grew by a compound daily growth rate of 58 percent during the campaign.

?What?s interesting about this is that there is a lot of discussion about the second screen and TV, but there has been a lot of impact with radio,? said Joe Gillespie, CEO/president of Zoove, Palo Alto, CA.

?Stations are realizing that they can engage consumers anytime and anywhere with cool experiences that they can dynamically send back to consumers,? he said. 

?The reason why this works so well is that it doesn?t change ? it?s not a QR code or a Twitter tag ? it?s your brand and very powerful.?

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