To increase Puma's brand awareness in China, the sporting goods giant launched a multichannel mobile campaign consisting of a mobile Web site, in-game advertising, coupons, banners and search.

Puma tapped interactive mobile agency Phonevalley to help with the campaign. Together, the two companies ran the mobile campaign right before and after the Shanghai Formula 1, an open wheeled auto racing event. Puma was promoting its F1 Puma Ferrari official apparel.

"Puma and Zenith are always looking for new and engaging ways to connect with our youth target in China," said Malcolm Hanlon, CEO of Zenith China.

"We can't outspend the huge budgets of competitors but we can outsmart them," he said. "By being the first, the most innovative, engaging and unique with our Puma campaigns we continue to ensure Puma's media budget delivers the best ROI compared with the huge budgets thrown around by other sports brands here."

The event was held Oct. 19 in Shanghai, China.

The Puma mobile Internet site featured PUMA's F Wan operation (Wan in Chinese means play).

Users visiting the mobile site could play an F1 battle car racing game. The games display four F1 Puma cars to win the races.

To increase the buzz on the operation, Phonevalley built a gaming bonus system: players who submit their scores by SMS or who forward the games to friends earn new points.

Every week, the top 3 players are awarded and offered Puma F1 shoes, bags and hats.

The mobile site also gives users access to a store locator function to identify the closest Puma retailer, it provides in-store promotions details.

The mobile site lets users download Puma wallpapers, to personalize the home screen of their mobile phones.

Phonevalley has also developed a mobile coupon campaign for Puma.

When players download a game from the Puma mobile site, they receive a coupon via MMS, to redeem a mobile phone toy accessory in any of the 350 Puma stores in China.

Additionally, mobile banners and text links are being displayed on the top three Chinese wireless carriers' portals: QQ, 3g.cn and Kong.net

SMS short-codes are integrated in all Puma print ads asking users to text the keyword PUMA F WAN to the shortcode 1066 958866.

Participating consumers instantly receive a clickable SMS with a link to directly access the Puma mobile Internet site.

Lastly, mobile users who search the mobile Web for any sport related information are sent an SMS which includes a direct link to the Puma mobile Internet site.

"Following our recent Euro 2008 campaign for Puma, I am thrilled we pursue our mobile operations for the sport lifestyle brand in China," said Alexandre Mars, Phonevalley's CEO and Publicis Groupe's Head of Mobile. "With its 600 million mobile subscribers, the Chinese market is undoubtedly a fantastic opportunity for Puma to develop its mobile presence and we are enthusiastic to support them."