Sony Music is running a mobile sweepstakes offering music fans a chance to win a weekend in Las Vegas with Grammy-nominated artist Mario.

Sony tapped mobile media company SendMe Mobile for the mobile promotion available exclusively through the company?s sweepstakes site SoLow.com. The grand prize winner of the Viva Las Vegas with Mario sweepstakes will be flown to Las Vegas with a guest and treated to a two-night stay at the Red Rock Hotel and $500 in cash.

?We?re enormously excited to kick off what we expect to be a larger relationship with the Sony Music label,? said Russell Klein, cofounder/CEO of SendMe, San Francisco. ?We?ve seen a lot of success over the last couple of years helping music labels generate incremental revenue by selling more albums and concert tickets.

?From Sony?s perspective, they?re always looking for new, unique ways to engage an audience that?s not only tech-savvy, but jaded in terms of traditional advertising such as banner ads,? he said.

The target demographic is teens and consumers in their early twenties.

Sony asked SendMe to use SoLow to offer users online and mobile components to the promotion.

?The target demographic is terrifically text-savvy and very much cross-platform?they?re online almost as much as they are on mobile, so a sweepstakes is a great way to reach out to them so they don?t feel like they?re just being sold to,? Mr. Klein said.

?The concern many music labels have is that the effectiveness of the banner ad unit doesn?t do a stellar job attracting that type of demographic,? he said.

?Sony is always on the lookout for other engaging formats such as the sweepstakes we run on SoLow.com.?

A wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corp. of America, Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a roster of current artists that includes both local and international musicians and performers.

The Viva Las Vegas with Mario sweepstakes is the latest in a series of celebrity prizes offered through SoLow.com.

To celebrate Mario?s upcoming album, D.N.A., scheduled to be released on Oct. 13, the sweepstakes is officially open now through Sept. 18 on SoLow.com.

The winner will be announced before the end of the month.

In addition to the free flight, hotel stay and cash, the winning fan will get to bowl with Mario, receive a signed bowling pin souvenir and be a special guest at his concert.

To win the Mario sweepstakes grand prize, consumers must guess the lowest unique number that no one else has guessed by the end of the sweepstakes.

Anyone over 13 can play online at http://www.SoLow.com or on a mobile phone.

Fans can text the keyword MARIO to the short code 23687 to get started.

A fee is associated with user bids for the grand prize.

?The goal of the promotion is to engage with fans and let them know who Mario is,? Mr. Klein said. ?Sony is actually doing their own promotion, putting a lot of resources behind it."

Sony?s marketing tactics includes Twitter, SMS marketing to Mario?s opted-in fan base and a promotion on Mario?s MySpace and Facebook pages.

?Sony is putting a lot of their marketing and promotional resources behind this sweepstakes,? Mr. Klein said.