Coca-Cola?s Sprite is running a multichannel mobile campaign to increase sweepstakes entries. 

The mobile push is part of the Sprite Films program, which gives young filmmakers a chance to win a trip to Universal Studios Orlando to attend a screening of their movie. The Sprite ads are running inside the IMDb mobile site.

"Sprite is always looking for new, innovative and creative ways to connect with our consumers in the places where we know they are communicating," said Karen Oettl, brand manager at Sprite, Atlanta.

"Our most avid consumers are younger and more engaged with mobile media," she said.

"We want to continue to deliver them relevant messages about our brand and promotions, which is why we are using the mobile advertising as a way to communicate with them about Sprite Films. In this specific activation we designed a digital voting experience to be mobile-optimized because we knew that would be the most convenient way for our consumers to view and vote for their favorite film."

Refresh on mobile
The mobile banner ads include Sprite?s logo and read, ?Watch. Vote. Win.?

When tapped on, the ads redirect users to the campaign?s microsite at http://www.sprite.com/films.

Users can view videos and read biographies from the competition's final six submissions.

For each vote made, consumers are automatically entered to win a trip to Universal Orlando Resort for four, including hotel, airfare and park tickets. Additionally, consumers are entered to win daily prize packs.

In order to submit a vote, consumers type their email address into a box.

Social media buttons are also prominent on the site to let users share content via Facebook and Twitter.

With more consumers using their devices for everyday information, using mobile advertising is a great way for Sprite to spread the word about the campaign.

However, with more brands banking on mobile as a medium for sweepstakes entries, the challenge is to keep the entry process as simple and quick as possible. In this case, using only an email address to enter lets users quickly enter the contest while on the go.

?Mobile banners are a natural extension of the online banners we have used for years now. Every channel is good as long as its relevance resonates with an audience, and it has sufficient market penetration,? said Cezar Kolodziej, CEO/president of Iris Mobile, Chicago.

?We already see that some demographics ? millennials for example ? are mostly reachable on their mobile phones only,? he said.

?Sprite needs to be in front of their customers on all channels its customers are on. The mobile channel is the one where customers are migrating to because a mobile phone is a device they have with them almost 24/7.?

Mr. Kolodziej is not affiliated with Sprite. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Past initiatives
This is not the first time Sprite has used mobile advertising to drive traffic.

In January, the brand placed mobile ads inside the TV Guide iPhone application to bolster the brand?s Facebook ?Likes? (see story).

Sprite also frequently uses mobile Web components to its campaigns to reach a wide group of consumers.

For instance, earlier this year Sprite used both SMS and a mobile Web site to connect with sports fans for the upcoming 2013 NBA All-Star game (see story).

Although some marketers are treating mobile as a key part of a multichannel campaign, others are missing the boat.

?I don't think brands are even treating mobile advertising fair in their budgets,? Mr.  Kolodziej said.

?Looking at the ratio of time customers spend on their mobile compared to other channels, mobile is evidently underinvested. This is not only a channel consumption issue, but a more organizational one where different marketing groups within an organization are independently responsible for the marketing effort in their own channel,? he said.

?There is a lot of work that can be done to change, but this Sprite campaign shows that it actually can be done, and I'm sure it will deliver better results.?

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