Whiskey brand Jack Daniel's is building up some serious brand buzz with a new sweepstakes for the National Collegiate Athletic Association?s March Madness that incorporates SMS, mobile Web, social media and email for a comprehensive digital campaign.

The ?Honey Hysteria? sweepstakes includes eight rounds of prizes, and the final grand prize is a trip to Las Vegas in March 2015 to celebrate March Madness. The campaign is aimed at growing the brand's SMS and email databases and social media following.

?First, the promotional experience was built as a responsive Web site, allowing for a simple and streamlined mobile experience,? said Casey Nelson, senior brand manager at Jack Daniel?s, Lynchburg, TN.

?Secondly, a new addition for the program this year is the distribution of promotional codes,? he said.

?We learned from past campaigns that the best engagement from our target consumer came from social media, which is most often accessed through mobile phones. Our strategy is to distribute promotional codes via social media to incentivize more participation from target consumers.?

Mobile buzz
Consumers can enter the sweepstakes by texting the keywords JDHONEY or JDMARCH to the short code 68405. Texting in also prompts consumers to opt-in for up to three SMS messages a week for the length of the campaign.

Jack Daniel's has also set up a mobile and Web microsite for the campaign that integrates Facebook and Twitter at http://www.honeyhysteria.com.  

The site lets consumers view a bracket with their picks for March Madness and enter a sweepstakes.

Users can enter the sweepstakes once per day through one method, but the entire campaign is geared towards getting consumers to interact with as many mediums as possible.

Promo codes that unlock additional entries are found on Jack Daniels? Facebook and Twitter pages, email newsletters, on marketing collateral in bars and are also sent via SMS.

Jack Daniels? campaign is an interesting example of a sweepstakes because of the way that it meshes all of the brand?s digital assets into one experience.

Moreover, the effort will help Jack Daniel's increase SMS and email opt-ins and build up a bigger social media presence.

The spirits brand is promoting the new campaign with banner ads within ESPN, CBSSports.com and social media.

Multichannel push
Jack Daniel's also ran a multichannel mobile campaign in 2011 to help launch its Tennessee Honey in 2011 (see story). 

The brand also ran a QR code, SMS and Facebook campaign in 2010 to celebrate the brand?s 160th birthday (see story). 

?This promotion is about connecting the consumer to the brand through the hype and hysteria that only this basketball tournament can provide,? Mr. Nelson said.

 ?These consumers are out and about watching the games and hanging with their friends,? he said. ?If we aren't on mobile, we will miss most opportunities to capture their engagement. We want to add to their tournament experience, not get in the way of it.?

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