Sidney Frank Importing Co. Inc., the exclusively importer of Jägermeister in the U.S., is using the mobile channel to reach consumers at Supercross events in four major cities.

The spirits importer tapped VML for the program, which allowed attendees of the Jäger-sponsored Supercross events to enter into the Jägermeister motorbike giveaway sweepstakes from their mobile phone. The objective of the program was to drive immediate consumer engagement and sweepstakes entries via on-site SMS calls-to-action and an on-site booth with Jägerettes.

"Part of the success of the Jägermeister brand over the years is due to the fact that we try to connect with consumers on a value basis and a far more intimate basis than most brands in the spirits industry with grassroots initiatives, trying to connect with consumers in the way they live and breathe and what their interests are," said James Verrier, vice president of marketing and advertising for Sidney Frank Importing Co. Inc., New Rochelle, NY.

"The advent of mobile technology particularly is perfect for our consumers and the way we want to reach them, on an intimate, one-to-one basis," he said. "There's nothing more intimate than a phone, and it's a great way to reach out and create a conversation and dialogue with consumers, as opposed to one-way messaging.

"Supercross is a very brand-loyal property, and when we tend to get into any facet of our marketing strategy -- sponsorship in particular -- we're either all in or we're not in, and mobile is a great way to extent the Jägermeister experience one more level."

Supercross is a cycle racing sport involving racing specialized high-performance off-road motorcycles on artificially made dirt tracks consisting of steep jumps and obstacles.

Professional Supercross contest races are held almost exclusively within professional baseball and football stadiums.

Jägermeister executed its mobile promotion at Supercross events in Salt Lake City, UT, Las Vegas, NV, St. Louis, MO, and Jacksonville, FL, in the first quarter of this year.

At the events, announcers, displays and the Jäger team promoted the mobile call-to-action of texting keyword JAGER to short code 47201 for a chance to win a Supercross bike.

Consumers that texted in had to verify their age and were than notified that they had been entered into the sweepstakes and asked if they would like to opt-in to future messages from Jäger.

The call-to-action was displayed on-site with signage and over the loudspeakers: "Win this bike tonight!!! If you win, it goes home with you tonight. It's so easy. Just text JAGER to 47201."

The SMS sweepstakes exceeded Sidney Frank's expectations for driving consumer interaction.

The percentage of attendees who texted in to enter the sweepstakes ranged from 4 percent in St. Louis and Jacksonville to 8 percent in Salt Lake City.

Of the consumers who entered the sweepstakes, the percentage who opted in to receive future marketing messages from Jägermeister on their handset ranged from 4 percent in St. Louis to 12 percent in Jacksonville and Las Vegas.

The target demographic was 21-plus attendees.

"From a psychographic standpoint, Supercross is a high-energy sport, so the audience tends to be young, active and participatory," Mr. Verrier said. "Supercross fans are very loyal, dedicated consumers that tend to tune in week in and week out, whether it's on TV or at Supercrosslive.com, and they share a lot of the same values that the brand does.

"This is our first larger scale beta test of this type of program," he said. "We've had mobile on the radar screen for quite a while, but this is the first dive into the deep end of the pool on a scale of this magnitude -- 50,000 people per event.

"As we roll future programs out, mobile will likely be a component of those."

Throughout the entire Mayhem Festival music tour, which features Slayer, Marilyn Manson and a host of metal bands, Sidney Frank Importing Co. will be promoting a sweepstakes giveaway for a Jägermeister Tap Machine, which doles out shots of the digestif.

Similar to the Supercross promotion, festival attendees will be prompted to text the keyword JAGER to short code 47201 to be entered into the drawing. Winners will be chosen at the end of the tour.

"Mobile is one more aspect of how clients engage customer in the digital channel," said Joe Grigsby, director of mobile practice group for VML, Kansas City, MO. "Jägermeister sponsors lots of big events, and our expectation was 4 percent would enter the sweepstakes and 4 percent of those would opt in for re-messaging, and we more than doubled that for both.

"It went well and was cost effective, so now we're working with Jägermeister to do the same type of program during the Mayhem Rock Festival over the next 2 months," he said. "We're going to continue to expand the brand's mobile initiatives and develop an iPhone app for them.

"For us the Jägermeister stuff is a big deal -- it's great brand and we're excited to work with them in the mobile channel."