Orange Julius is using mobile ads to promote the fact that its stores are inside the ice cream giant’s locations. The mobile ads are running within Fandango’s mobile site.

“The Dairy Queen/Orange Julius mobile ad is well-executed,” said Simon Buckingham, CEO of Appitalism, New York.

“The green color stands out and is attractive, and the use of the phone’s location to show the nearest store locations is solid and clear,” he said.

“The campaign does exactly what it says and enables you to tap to find your nearest Orange Julius.”

Mr. Buckingham is not affiliated with Dairy Queen. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Dairy Queen did not respond to press inquiries.

Finding a drink
The creative for the mobile banner ads prompt users to tap to find an Orange Julius location inside a Dairy Queen store.

When users click on the mobile ad, they are asked if it is OK to use their current location.

The banner stays locked at the top of the screen to then feature a branded map with Orange Julius locations.

Consumers can then zoom in and out to get a closer look at where the store is located.

Additionally, consumers can view the address and click to call the store location.

Mobile advertising is most effective when it solves a consumer’s pain point while on the go. In this case, making the mobile ad targeted towards a group of consumers based on their location is a smart way to drive in-store traffic.

Additionally, the branded map portion of the campaign helps Orange Julius and Dairy Queen stay top of mind for consumers while they are looking for a location.

Past initiatives
Dairy Queen is no stranger to mobile.

Last year, the brand partnered with Kraft on a location-based campaign that heavily relied on social media to celebrate Oreo’s 100th birthday. Consumers were urged to check in at least 100 times to a Dairy Queens location for a chance to win $100,000 (see story).

Additionally, the brand launched a store location app in 2010 after seeing an uptick in mobile Web traffic (see story).

Although this mobile ad campaign is simple, it is effective for Dairy Queen to drive in-store traffic.

To take it up a notch, Dairy Queen could have incorporated a mobile coupon or incentive that was redeemable in-store to bring in foot traffic.

“The location-based advertising works very well for Dairy Queen as they want to drive people into their stores, which now have the new Orange Julius smoothie shop inside,” Mr. Buckingham said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York