Challenge

In the summer of 2008, the Universal Pictures México Home Entertainment marketing team wanted to offer an incentive for consumers to purchase the DVD for The Mummy 3, a recent theater blockbuster. The customer experience needed to be seamless, easy to understand and extend the movie brand. In addition, the program must be cost effective and quick to implement for the Universal Pictures consumer marketing group.

Solution

Knowing that there are roughly 75 million mobile subscribers in México, which is 69% of the population and three times that of regular Internet users, 2ergo proposed that Universal Pictures implement a mobile instant win game for purchasers of The Mummy 3 DVD, offering a chance to win prizes including cell phones, Xbox 360 Live consoles, DVD players, a 42" plasma TV and a Toyota pickup truck. Upon opening the DVD case after purchase, consumers were prompted to send an SMS with a unique alphanumeric keyword to a specific shortcode to participate in the instant win contest. Randomly selected winners of the large prizes – 58 in total – were chosen based on a custom algorithm developed by 2ergo and were sent a text message with details on how to claim their prizes. Those that didn't win received a different message that offered them a free Mummy 3 branded wallpaper.

2ergo worked closely with Universal Pictures throughout the quick development of the mobile marketing campaign. 2ergo created thousands of unique alphanumeric codes for the printed DVD inserts and turned a licensed Mummy 3 image into mobile wallpapers properly formatted for all phones in the Mexican market. In addition, the 2ergo technology behind the scenes connected to multiple carriers so customers from Telcel, Movistar, and Iusacell/Unefon were all able to participate in the promotion. 2ergo provided Universal Pictures with access to real-time reporting so they could monitor the number of messages received and number of wallpapers downloaded per day.

Results

• During the 5-week promotional timeframe, 12% of customers that purchased The Mummy 3 DVD participated in the SMS-to-win contest.
• Universal Pictures was able to let 2ergo handle all the behind-the-scenes details, such as mobile operator connectivity, carrier compliance, sending and receiving of various SMS messages, and results tracking.
• The SMS contest helped drive sales of a retail consumer good at an 85% sell-through and allowed consumers to interact with the brand on a personal level.
• 2ergo's services were faster and less expensive than the previous mobile marketing provider being used by Universal Pictures México.
• The marketing group at Universal Pictures México Home Entertainment was extremely pleased with the results and plans to continue to invest in mobile marketing in the future for both in-theater movie releases and DVD launches.