Fast food chain Wendy?s is driving consumers to its locations to try the company?s new hamburgers via two geotargeted mobile ad campaigns.

The company is running mobile ads in conjunction with a broader marketing campaign that involves television and a large emphasis on social media. The ads are running across both the mobile Web and in applications, including the Shazam iPhone app and the ESPN mobile site.

?The target of the campaign is a younger consumer who is willing to try new foods and is a heavy smartphone user,? said Denny Lynch, spokesman for Wendy?s, Dublin, OH.

?When someone is driving by or walking near a Wendy's with a smartphone in their pocket, we want to encourage them to come into the store,? he said.

Where is the beef
Wendy?s is running several types of mobile ads.

In one set, the company is specifically promoting the W burger, which focuses on premium toppings and meat.

The mobile ads run across the top of the screen and read, ?The W. Try it now for just $2.99.?

Once users tap on the mobile ad, a video plays that shows each ingredient in the burger.

After the video ends, a picture of the burger and a W splash across the screen.

Here is a picture of the Wendy's in-app ad

The ads show a map of the user?s location with the addresses of Wendy's locations

Wendy?s is also running another mobile ad campaign that showcases all of its hamburgers and educates consumers on the history of the restaurant chain.

The second set of ads are running on ESPN?s mobile site as part of a sponsorship on football content.

The banner ads expand to show Wendy?s signature hamburger ? the Hot n? Juicy burger.

The Wendy's ad that is running on ESPN's mobile site

The ads also display the company's complete menu of hamburgers and users can tap on each item to learn more about it, as well as browse pictures.

Similar to the other set of mobile ads, users can find a nearby Wendy?s location via GPS.

Fast ads
This is not the first mobile initiative from Wendy?s that is aimed to drive consumers to try products.

Wendy?s also ran a mobile advertising campaign during the summer to promote a line of shakes (see story).

For fast food companies, mobile advertising is an effective way to reach consumers by using location to drive in-store traffic.

?For businesses with loyal customers and many locations, tapping into the location of mobile devices is an obvious way to drive incremental store visits,? said Wilson Kerr, Boston-based mobile marketing consultant.

Mr. Kerr is not affiliated with Wendy?s. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

However, in order for fast food chains to fully embrace mobile, companies need to think about tying their mobile efforts to a commerce element.

?Location plays a big role, but I expect an increasing number of quick-serve restaurants to experiment with mobile payments in 2012,? Mr. Kerr said.

?Driving traffic is one thing, but driving tracked, incremental mobile conversions that are linked to specific campaigns is quite another,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York