Church’s Chicken is giving consumers a way to use their mobile phones this holiday season to receive a coupon and enter to win a trip to see a movie premiere.

Mobile serves as the hub for the cross-channel campaign that launched on Dec. 8 and runs through Dec. 26 to promote the Warner Bros. film Joyful Noise, which opens next month. It is Church’s Chicken’s first foray into mobile marketing.

“When you look at Church’s Chicken’s demographic base, 98 percent is carrying SMS technology and 62 percent is carrying smartphone technology,” said Jeff Kilman, x at social CRM agency Pocketstop, Dallas.

“This was the easiest and most effective way to create a cross platform promotion and make mobile the hub for activating the other channels because it is the one thing that is always in everyone’s pocket,” he said.

“What they are seeing in store, on the Web site, radio, TV and in newspapers – all of these are tied together and tagged with a mobile call to action. We are able to track where every entry and point of contact is coming from.”

Middle class moms
Consumers can text one of five keywords to a short code to be entered into Church’s Chicken Joyful Noise Sweepstakes.

Mobile calls to action are found on Church’s Chicken’s Web site, on signs at participating restaurants and in television, newspaper and radio ads for the brand.

Everyone who sends a text will receive a text offer for $1 off any individual Church’s combo mean and be entered for a chance to win a trip to Los Angeles for the premiere of Joyful Noise on Jan. 9, 2012. The winner will also receive a year’s worth of Church’s Chicken and Coca-Cola.

The film Joyful Noise tells the story of a small town church choir with big aspirations and the discord between its two lead singers.

Church’s Chicken worked with its advertising agency Levenson & Hill, Pocketstop and Warner Bros. to develop the campaign.

The goals for the campaign include driving new customers into Church’s Chicken and building an opt-in mobile database.

“The mobile database will be used on a selective basis and based on the fact that they came in through this campaign,” Mr. Kilman said.

The effort will also enable the restaurant chain to track how consumers engage with mobile when they are in front of traditional advertising such as TV and radio.

The participation level so far has been three times higher than for other movie tie-ins Pocketstop has developed.  

The campaign targets women between the ages of 19 and 35 years old with a median household income of between $35,000 and $40,000.

“We have a very focused target group that we are going after with a compelling vehicle,” Mr. Kilman said.  

“This is really at the heart of the middle class mom that is going to be interested in the movie but also wants to have an affordable fantastic meal waiting for their family.”

The expectation going into the campaign was that radio would be a strong method for activating mobile consumers. However, TV has proven to be more effective in early results.

“We thought that radio was going to be an important component but it has the smallest participation rate,” Mr. Kilman said.

“We all now sit in front of the TV with our phones,” he said. “Church’s is excited to see that TV is a good medium to activate consumers on their small screen via their mobile phones.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York