Gannett Co. Inc.'s USA Today is using Microsoft Tags to promote its new Mobile Hoopla contest and encourage fans of the annual men?s college basketball tournament to enter.

La Quinta Inns & Suites is the exclusive promotional sponsor of Mobile Hoopla campaign. The company is running banner ads via the campaign to bring additional content to its business traveler target demographic.

?Overall, we look to partner with providers and content that our business travelers are passionate about,? said Amy Bartle, director of media and digital marketing at La Quinta Inns & Suites, Dallas. ?College sports are a major passion point for them, and the opportunity to bring additional content to them is exciting.

?Consumers have enough brands just talking at them,? she said. "We hope to be remembered as a brand who gave them something extra ? something fun to brighten their day.?

USA Today is a multiplatform news and information media company.

La Quinta Inns & Suite provides franchise services to more than 800 hotels in 46 states, Canada and Mexico. 

How it works
The Microsoft Tag is currently featured in USA Today?s sports section.

The Microsoft Tag featured in USA Today

Users can scan the Tag to get more details about the contest or enter http://www.mobilehoopla.usatoday.com on their mobile browser.

Readers can root for their favorite teams

After scanning the Tag, users are redirected to a mobile landing page that lets them enter the contest for a chance to win an Xbox 360 with Kinect.

Additionally, users can invite their friends from Facebook, make their picks and track the progress of the tournament by viewing daily updates of tournament scores.

?Mobile plays a very big role for the company,? said Craig Etheridge, vice president of mobile advertising sales at USA Today. ?We?re always trying to reach new users.

?What we try to do is that if we want to engage consumers, we have to reach them on the medium that they?re most comfortable with,? he said. ?We have to make sure that we meet all their needs."

Reader engagement
Readers can register for the contest using their Facebook account or email.

Users can also check tournament news, sign up for text alerts or access USA Today?s mobile site.

?We can drive traffic through the Microsoft Tag to the game itself,? Mr. Etheridge said. ?We?re also going to bringing awareness through mobile advertising and there?s going to be a presence on the iPad.?

Final Take