Dec 16, 2011 at 02:38 PM
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U.S. Cellular Tailgates With Segways and QR Codes

U.S. Cellular recently took the definition of "mobile" in two completely different directions - combining the mobile scanning of QR codes with Segways, the two wheel transport machine, to activate its ties to college football. The Chicago-based wireless service sent reps out to eight university tailgates on branded Segways adorned with custom-branded QR codes. In between libations, tailgaters were able to scan the QR codes to reach a mobile landing page that displayed whether they were an instant winner of U.S. Cellular branded promotional items or gift cards. The mobile sites included an entry form for the grand prize of two tickets to the National Championship Bowl Game.


“The goal of this campaign was to enhance the fan tailgating experience with U.S. Cellular products and services while increasing awareness of our brand,” said Rebecca Kruse, Senior Sponsorship and Events Manager for U.S. Cellular. “The Tailgate for Tickets Mobile Campaign was an innovative program that offered great visibility through in-stadium activities and campaigns. The participation we saw was very encouraging.”

Participating colleges were University of Iowa, Iowa State, University of Maine, University of Northern Iowa, University of Tulsa, Valparaiso, West Virginia University, and University of Wisconsin. To extend the promotion outside of the college football games, consumers could also enter to win the grand prize by scanning a QR code at their local U.S. Cellular retail stores.

“This campaign developed by our Mobile Managed Services team enabled U.S. Cellular to have meaningful dialog with end users which enhances brand affinity,” said Michael Scully, Managing Director, 2ergo Americas. “It also created an innovative way to measure the effectiveness of a marketing medium that is traditionally extremely hard to capture, illustrating why mobile marketing should be integrated closely with one’s overall marketing strategy to interact with a target audience.”

The company says that the campaign exceeded U.S. Cellular’s per event customer interaction goal: 4,321 consumers scanned the QR codes; 1,074 winners walked away with prizes; and 2,989 people entered to win the grand prize.

#activationstag