SMS initiatives to engage Political Millennials

Nonprofit political organization Rock the Vote is using mobile at events such as Lollapalooza to engage young Americans by connecting them with musicians and interactive politics.

Rock the Vote is ramping up its interaction with the millennial generation by leveraging interactive tools such as mobile polls and votes, broadcasting election news, narrowcasting voter registration information and providing the ability to send comments and mobile pictures to the Rock the Vote Web site.

“We ran a robust SMS campaign for the first time in 2008, and now all of our public service announcements include the SMS call-out,” said Chrissy Faessen, vice president of communications and marketing at Rock the Vote, Washington. “Mobile is integrated into all of our marketing and communications programs. “We use mobile in conjunction with other media as an opportunity to reach out to our target audience, ages 18 to 29,” she said. “We want to engage young people about politics and all of the issues that are important to them, and mobile is an excellent medium to connect to young people, because it helps up moves past geographic and demographic restrictions."

In addition, RTV can now send pertinent information to its constituents that they have expressed interest in and opted in to receive. "We also help them segment their messages to specific geographic areas based on key elections or votes within their priority initiatives encouraging young American voters to engage in the political system and realize they can make a difference."

RTV plans to incorporate their mobile calls to action in various types of advertising such as TV, radio and print throughout the country. They will also be getting the word out through grassroots tactics at live concerts and festivals, such as on-stage calls to action from the artists themselves or displayed on jumbo screens, as well as RTV volunteers handing out fliers and verbally encouraging attendees to participate in their various mobile campaigns. RTV also uses online widgets on their Web site and various social networks to entice young Americans to get involved. From Mobile Marketer at http://bit.ly/18JH2y

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Mobile Oreo Branding

Kraft Foods' Oreo tapped the mobile channel for a promotion meant to drive awareness of the cookie brand among British consumers. “The mobile device is a consumer’s third screen,” said Maya Mikhailov, vice president of Slifter, New York. “Like television and the Internet before it, no true 360-degree branding campaign is complete without presence on the most ubiquitous device in a consumer’s hand – the mobile phone.”

Through the promotion, Oreo targeted family members going to the movies together by sponsoring advanced screenings of family movies in cinemas across Britain.

To enter the promotion, entrants use their mobile phone to take a photo of their family and friends with the life-size Oreo and text it to a short code. Entrants received an SMS confirming their entry, followed by another SMS inviting them to go and see if their picture has been selected for the Oreo online gallery. Consumers are also able to download and print pictures from

Kraft has used mobile before. In May, Kraft Foods expanded its reach to consumers through the launch of a new mobile Web site, which was promoted via mobile search and banner ads on Yahoo’s Web portal. The mobile site is meant to offer new and existing Kraftfoods.com members access to recipes while on the go. The site extends Kraft Foods’ reach to any mobile phone with an Internet connection. From Mobile Marketer at http://bit.ly/17hXyk