1/31/2007

Pizza Hut, Bud Tie Super Bowl Ads to Cell Phones

Budweiser and Pizza Hut hope to expand the effectiveness of their Super Bowl ads by developing a mobile aspect of the campaign.

Budweiser, working with mobile marketing firm ipsh, has created a real-time voting promotion for fans who register at www.budweiser.com. Consumers will be able to send their votes via SMS to voice their opinions on Budweiser commercials as they air. After the game, participants will be given special access to a bonus commercial on the website. Some will even be able to see all the Budweiser commercials on their mobile phones.

Pizza Hut is embedding hidden codes in all its commercials. Viewers hunt for the codes and text them in, for a chance to win everything from cars to entertainment packages to free music downloads.

Most people watching the game will have their cell phones handy, according to Nihal Mehta, CEO of ipsh. "With close to a billion people watching, it's a prime opportunity to make a connection that lasts longer than thirty seconds."