Quick-service restaurant Pizza Hut used mobile to generate buzz about its new Hershey's Dunkers offering and built a mobile database of consumers to remarket to.

Calls to action ran on Cox Media's cable network asking viewers to text the keyword HUT to short code 269411. Consumers who texted in were entered for a chance to win a Pizza Hut pizza, once a month, for a year straight.

"Mobile was a great tool for this client because it offered a great way for the client to connect with their target demographic," said Shira Simmonds, president of Ping Mobile, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. "In addition, the client used their TV spots to promote their new product, and at the end of the spot, they promoted the mobile call-to-action with an awesome sweepstakes attached.

"The combination of mobile and the sweepstakes offer of free pizza for a year proved to be an unbeatable combination," she said. "The results were outstanding, and more than enabled the client to build a vast mobile database which they could use for future marketing."

Pizza Hut's Hershey Dunkers are freshly-baked, soft, dessert sticks topped with white chocolate and Hershey's milk chocolate -- served with rich chocolate dipping sauce.

Mobile Marketing firm Ping Mobile is powering the campaign.

Ms. Simmonds said that in just two weeks the campaign has received more than 2,000 opt-ins and 54 percent moved on to double-opt-in.

Pizza Hut was faced with the challenge of trying to find a way to make its new product launch stand-out from all of the other offerings being launched by competitors in the same market.

Consumers who texted in received the following message: "Congrats! You are NOW entered 2 Win a free 1 topping pizza every month for a year from Pizza Hut! Winner notified via phone call on 8.23.09."

Participants were then sent a confirmation and a chance to double-opt-in: "Reply YES Now for 10 more entries to WIN & to get Xclusives from Pizza Hut. max4msgs/mo. std txt rts apply. Reply YES Now!"

The final message said, "Success! You are subscribed! STOP 2 quit. HELP 4 help. Std msg chrgs apply. Look 4 exclusives on your Mobile Phone!"

Pizza Hut has been making a lot of headlines in the mobile space lately.

Last month the company created a unique mobile ordering experience for its customers via an application that breaks traditional application boundaries.

The fast-food chain launched an iPhone application that lets users order menu items from their phone. The application also serves as a source of entertainment for hungry customers waiting for their food delivery.

Pizza Hut also ran promotions on Alltel Perks.

Last year Pizza Hut broke its first mobile customer promotion with the launch of the "Snap for Rewards" campaign for the Chinese market in Asia.

The Dallas-based pizza chain let consumers use their mobile phones to take snapshots of MyClick-enabled images printed on Pizza Hut promotional materials for discounts and prizes. It used the MyClick Media's mobile marketing platform (see story).

Also, Pizza Hut was the first pizza chain to offer both text messaging and mobile Web ordering options on a nationwide basis (see story).

"I had introduced mobile text advertising to the agency handling metro New Orleans Pizza Huts several months ago," said Karla Teal, account executive at Cox Media, New Orleans. "The agency worked hard over those months to get the client on board with this new media opportunity. The client finally embraced it and even agreed to a sweepstakes that featured a free pizza a month for a year."

"With a strong response and double-opt-in rate, the client is very excited about the results and is strategizing about the next steps to keep the campaign moving," she said.