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Xerox, Wise, Caesar?s, Verizon sponsor SMS initiatives at Mets games

The New York Mets have launched an in-stadium mobile campaign, sponsored by Xerox, Wise, Caesar's and Verizon Wireless, for the 2009 Major League Baseball season and beyond.

The campaigns, in partnership with Verizon Wireless and powered by Txtstation, include a variety of sponsor-driven promotions as a means to engage fans and make the Citi Field experience even more fun and enjoyable. Mobile promotions run at all home games with SMS calls-to-action on the video board offering an opportunity for the fans to interact with the team and its sponsors.

"The mobile campaign is powered by Verizon Wireless and Xerox is the sponsor of the pics-to-screen, which has an inherent tie-in with their products," said Michael Falato, vice president of sales and business development at Txtstation, Austin, TX.

"Caesar's sponsored the Fan Forum to encourage brand loyalty," he said.

Txtstation is a mobile marketing company specializing in sports and entertainment. Its clients include broadcasters, event owners, brand sponsors and general media.

Txtstation is currently working in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Italy and South Africa.

Document management/printing giant Xerox Corp. is sponsoring Citi Field's Fan Photos feature, letting fans send pictures taken at the stadium with their camera phones to get them displayed in a slideshow-like manner on the in-stadium video screen.

The Mets had a deal with Xerox, which wanted to be able to run various interactive mobile concepts to engage fans during the game, and Verizon, Xerox and the Mets agreed to do a cobranded graphic on the video screen.

The "Verizon Wireless Fan Choice Awards" nightly poll lets fans voice their opinions on various Mets topics via SMS.

Thirty youngsters from two Queens organizations took the field along with two New York Mets players and a coach as part of the Verizon Promo Day at Citi Field on Aug. 15 (see story).

Snack-food giant Wise sponsors the "Eighth-Inning Sing-Along," with a call-to-action urging fans to vote using their handsets, texting their preferred keyword to a short code to weigh in to decide what song should be played during the 8th-inning break.

Luxury hotel and casino Caesar's Palace sponsors the Mets' "Fan Forum," letting fans send in user-generated content via text messages, giving fans the chance to express their take on a pre-determined subject.

"Txt-of-War" is another mobile feature from Txtstation, with an SMS voting format that pits opposing sides against each other.

For example, fans have to choose between various keywords in a poll that compares interaction rates -- the left side of stadium versus the right side or which state (NY, NJ or CT) has the best fans.

For each of the above promotions, voting results and content are displayed in real time on the video board in high definition, thus providing an interactive atmosphere for fans and brands.

The mobile marketing efforts by the New York Mets have spurred quite a bit of fan interaction, with thousands of text messages sent in each game, according to Txtstation.

"Participation has been great, and these guys at the Mets know how to activate a campaign, they know how to engage fans," Mr. Falato said. "They're getting fans excited the about mobile polls and other text-messaging initiatives we're doing with them.

"We like that we can give the Mets a whole bunch of options and various things they can do with mobile," he said. "They love to engage fans in real time and we love to give them the mobile features to help them do that."

One of the campaign's objectives is to drive people to the Verizon Fan Studio, an on-site retail kiosk in center field, featuring phones and products.

Those participating fans who happen to be Verizon Wireless subscribers get a reply via text message informing them about the carrier's in-statium store.

MLB Advanced Media has the rights to opted-in SMS alerts, both league-wide alerts and those dedicated to a specific team.

In-venue SMS initiatives inside a stadium or arena are open to third parties such as Txtstation to power mobile campaigns.

"One of the goals of the mobile campaign is driving people to the special area Verizon has in the outfield, to get people to buy phones and check out the new gear," Mr. Falato said.

"We're helping with branding of Verizon Wireless, Caesar's and Xerox to connect them to Mets fans using the mobile channel," he said.

On the field, the team has been ravaged by injuries and currently sits in fourth place in the NL East, with a record entering last night's game of 56-65.

"The New York Mets truly understand the power of mobile and we could not be more excited to launch this campaign in conjunction with Mets and Verizon Wireless," said Mr. Falato said.