In anticipation of the upcoming remake of "The Karate Kid" starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, Sony Pictures released a branded application for iPhone and a mobile campaign to support it.

The free game directly appeals to the studio?s movie-going demographic and its built-in social networking features are designed to virally raise awareness of the movie's upcoming release. Sony Pictures tapped Trigger Interactive to build the application, while Sony's agency of record Universal McCann (UM) placed the media buy, with Jirbo Inc.?s AdColony one of the many companies in the mix for the mobile ad campaign.

?We work with multiple film studios, as well as entertainment and media companies,? said Nikao Yang, executive vice president at AdColony, Los Angeles. ?Film-studio clients want to drive brand awareness, product awareness and app downloads for whatever it is they are promoting.

?Typically they would release a film in conjunction with an iPhone app, and they would come to AdColony to drive awareness of the film and downloads of the iPhone app by running ads within other games and apps for the iPhone and iPad,? he said. ?The No. 1 way to promote an application or game is within another application or game, as more than 90 percent of downloads of iPhone and iPod touch apps happen on the device.

?The best way to drive downloads is not through traditional channels, because the mobile device is the primary place for downloads and exposure, so our clients are targeting users on their handsets using rich-media advertising.?

AdColony, a subsidiary of Jirbo, provides clients such as Sony Pictures with instant-loading HD-quality mobile video ads designed to give users insight into what the movie and game are all about.

?The mobile ads are compelling people to download the app or game,? Mr. Yang said.

AdColony powers preroll, instertitial and postroll video units that it strategically places within other applications or games.

?We use frequency capping so users don?t get burnt out on any one ad,? Mr. Yang said.

All of the mobile ad units are clickable.

The closing frame of the video ad provides a call-to-action with four buttons on the screen that users can tap: go to the advertiser?s mobile Web site for more information, download the game or application, replay the ad or return to the game or application experience.

?These units are achieving extremely high click-through rates,? Mr. Yang said. ?We complement the mobile video units with full-color banner ads throughout our network, which includes highly ranked, highly engaged iPhone, iPod touch and iPad games.?

The banners can include functionality such as click-to-Web-site, click-to-download-in-the-App-Store or click-to-Twitter, known as the ?Tap to Tweet? ad unit.

Wax on
Features of Sony Pictures? Karate Kid for the iPhone and iPod touch include five mini-games that will test users? Kung Fu virtues: Courage, Endurance, Patience, Perseverance and Will.

Gamers start as a novice white belt and rise through the ranks to achieve martial arts mastery.

Users must complete specific tasks within each mini-game to unlock special awards. They can share their progress with friends on Facebook.

Sony Pictures believes that offering free mobile applications and games is an effective tool for building buzz in advance of a film?s release.

?A theatrical release is typically accompanied by a mobile game or application, and the client?s goal to disseminate a message about the movie but entertain users to keep them coming back over and over,? Mr. Yang said. ?Mobile games create brand awareness and sink in the date the movie comes out.

?It?s all about information and entertainment, because if you combine information with entertainment, then they come back to the game again and again and you drive home your branding that way,? he said.

?Depending on what a client?s target demographic is for a particular film, we?ll gear the mobile ad campaign toward the portfolio of games or apps that target that same demo.?