Corona and 560WQAM make it easy to enter their sweepstakes. Just text the word CORONAATP (keyword) to the number 56121 (short code).

560WQAM and Corona Extra Beer a giving away 6 tickets to the Sony Open Tennis Tournament this March 22, in Miami, FL. All you have to do to enter is text the word CORONAATP (keyword) to the number 56121 (short code) and respond with your birth-date (winners 21+) and you are in! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

What 560WQAM knows is that they will get the most amount of entries by making it easy to enter via a text message. The radio station is also able to charge Corona a premium for the sweepstakes and keep its sweepstake fulfillment costs low by not having to print entry forms, create websites with entry forms or worry about data collecting and entering because the data is supplied by the participant from their mobile phone.

When you send the word CORONAATP to the short code you get back this confirmation message immediately.

560WQAM is leveraging the power of the short code  to add additional value to their sponsor’s ad packages and increase their ad sales by offering mobile sweepstakes. It’s a win-win-win. The contestant finds a painless way to enter the contest, the advertiser gets a low cost sweepstake promotion running and the radio station increases its ad sales.

If you are looking for a short code to set up mobile initiatives and sweepstakes Momares can get you going with our shared short code 65047. Contact us at support@momares.com

Wheat Thins, those adorable wheat crackers are giving away 5 flatscreen TV’s just in time for college basketball’s NCAA March Madness. What is truly mad about this sweepstakes is how easy it is to submit your entry. Want to win a TV? Just send a text message with the word WHEATTHINS to the phone number 63065 (short code) and you are in. No from to fill out. Not even a website form asking for additional information. Just send a text message. This text-to-win sweepstakes entry process will undoubtedly result in far more participants than any other means of sweepstake entry submissions. True to its strategic approach Mondelez (parent company of Nabisco) is going ahead and dedicating more of its budget to mobile. Mondelez is taking the lead in mobile and will reap the benefits of obtaining permission to communicate with their customers and on most the important screen…their mobile phone.

KFC’s and Dr. Pepper’s “From Medium to Larger than Life” sweepstakes offers participants a chance to win a trip to the Academy of Country Music Awards. What makes this sweepstake truly remarkable is not the prize but how easy it is to enter. All participants have to do is just send a text with the code found on the soda cup to a short code and that’s it! You’re in!

What I like most of all is that it’s tied to a purchase. In order to get the code you must buy a soda and no one at KFC just buys a soda. The purchase usually includes a meal. A one-two punch. You can also go the mobile site and enter for free with no purchase but you have to register and fill out the form which is tedious and not as easy as sending a text-to-enter. KFC’s done a good job at properly using mobile to increase to sweepstakes participants. Through the sweepstakes, KFC will build database of mobile subscriber that they will use to send offers and coupons via text message. Well done! (pun intended)

Disney Stores’ new sweepstakes offers a vacation getaway for 5 days/4 nights to the New Fantasyland^® at Walt Disney World^® Resort. Nice! Fantasyland is the biggest expansion in Magic Kingdom^® Park history.

Disney’s Fantasyland sweepstakes mobile page may or may not want my mobile number.

Daytime Phone = Mobile Phone?

Disney does a great job of setting up a simple mobile website to promote the sweepstakes and offer a mobile form for entry. What I found particularly interesting is that Disney doesn’t ask for a mobile phone number as part of the entry. It’s a mobile site, right? And you’d think the customer must be mobile savvy? Instead they ask for a “Daytime Phone.” Not “Home Phone” or “Office Phone,” but daytime phone. In this mobile age, what is your daytime phone? Home phone? Work phone? Or is it an indirect way of asking for your mobile number? If so, why not just ask for the mobile phone? After all, if you enter the sweepstakes and win, wouldn’t you like to be informed right away?

Is Disney’s Mobile Marketing on Auto-Pilot?

If they’re on auto-pilot and creating a mobile site with a standard form are part of the process, then what else are they missing? It makes you wonder if Disney marketers are making good use of the database of mobile numbers they can get or if they’re avoiding having to create a new campaign for mobile marketing. Why set up a mobile sweepstakes site, if mobile marketing isn’t part of the plan? Are marketers just paying lip service to mobile? Or is it a missed opportunity to capture the most important number in a customer’s life?

What do you think? Comment below.

Wholly Guacamole Fridge Makeover Sweepstakes is beautifully made, polished and a very creative contest. I love the spokesperson persona of the 50s housewife with white pearls and the talking fridge begging for healthy food and a makeover.

The sweepstakes objectives seem to be two-fold:

1.    Capture name, email and zip code as part of the entry (pretty straightforward)
2.    Provide a discount coupon on purchase (not so straight forward)

Coupon delivery methodology should be streamlined

They do a great job with the branding and messaging but where they stumble is in the coupon delivery methodology. The first hurdle is going through a printer status check list before you can proceed. The list asks you to check your printer for paper, ensure your printer is on, check ink levels and make sure it’s connected.

It’s pretty crazy to assume that people who intend to print need that many instructions on printing. It’s a safe bet that if you have a printer, this is not the first time you are using it. It gets more burdensome… after you check your printer’s status, you have to download www.coupons.com app in order to print the coupon. What? Yes, I said the same thing. Download an app to get a coupon?

Why a printer checklist? People who own a printer know how to work one.

Why do I have to download an app to get a coupon?

My question for Wholly Guacamole is why make it so cumbersome to print a simple coupon? Isn’t the goal to get them the coupon as easily as possible so they can use it to buy guacamole? A link to a page where the coupon is will suffice. People know how to print it. Or better yet, add an instant mobile coupon they can request via text message. This way they don’t event have to print it and the coupon is on their mobile phone.

To get the coupon, you must download an app first. This is cumbersome and unnecessary for the consumer.

Make it easy to get the coupon and join the sweepstakes!

Wholly Guacamole could say “To get this coupon on your phone, text GUAC to 65047.” Simple, elegant and effective. The company could then print the mobile coupon call-to-action in all the product packages, website, and social media outlets. And now with the permission to text them, you can send them a text letting them know about the Wholly Guacamole Fridge Makeover Sweepstakes and how they could join from their mobile phone. They could leverage their super nice mobile website by creating a mobile sweepstake entry point.

This sweepstakes would benefit tremendously from mobile since it bridges the gap between the purchase at the retail store and the online world by letting the consumer easily pull the coupon on the go or from the website.