The foundation knows that its participants are literally the face of its campaign, as participants grows mustaches for the month of November to raise funds and awareness for prostate and men’s cancer. The SMS program allows the fundraiser to continue with its image of a progressive, modern non-profit foundation while increasing donations.

“Mobile is one of the most effective and important marketing channels available to brands today,” said Justin Orgel, director of strategic services at Experian Marketing Services. “For marketers, mobile gives brands an opportunity to have personal in-the-right-moment conversations with their audience on their most personal device.

“As a result, mobile is a critical component to any marketing mix, mobile meaning SMS, app, web, ads and optimized email campaigns, no matter what the objective,” he said. “The challenge today for marketers is thinking about mobile in a cross-channel and cross-mobile context, mobile could be messaging, push notifications, apps, ads, email, and web.

“While people have become more comfortable with the idea of donating in the mobile channel engagement is also an important part of a non-profit mobile program that should not be overlooked. For example, with Movember, our activities are focused on improving awareness about what the foundation stands for and the cool content they are creating around this amazing cause.”

SMS connection
For the entire month of November, men work on growing their mustaches out in wacky and comedic ways for a modern twist on fundraising. The Movember Foundation encourages men to grow out their mustaches while friends and family monetarily sponsor their efforts, which concludes with a party at the end of the month.

The Movember Foundation is streamlining its efforts through SMS in which users sign up by texting Movember to the fundraisers’ text support number, 64207. Subscribers receive motivational messages such as “do not feel awkward leaving the house with that 5 day old moustache- your Mo can help you achieve great things,” along with links to videos.

For instance, one video featured footage of astronauts confidently walking in uniform to their mission all modeling their mustaches with text reading “five out of seven astronauts have a mustache.” The more engaged these participants are the more likely they are to continue driving donations for the campaign.

The participants are essentially brand ambassadors for the foundation, which means keeping them engaged and interacting with the campaign is vital. The Movember Foundation is also encouraging SMS subscribers to participate in games related to mustache growth.

The mobile messaging program also shares special rewards, event information and innovative fundraising ideas for participants of which to take advantage. The campaign is also ramping up participation through email reminders that encourage consumer to donate more and stay involved such as a welcome email upon signup that features various methods in raising money and how to get started.

Users can also get 20 percent off of Movember merchandising through an SMS promo code. All kinds of participants are welcome and the experience is tailored to how the user is involved with the campaign from.

SMS subscribers inform the automated system how they are involved and the program serves an experience relative to their participation. The foundation also has an application which tracks progress and creates games as well.

Movember challengers start off the month with a clean-shaven face and continue to grow their mustaches as the month goes on. Participants can create teams or go it alone.

Mobile messaging commerce
Similarly, Walmart invited bright minds in the tech industry to hack into its ROI, spawning an idea for an innovative shopping companion for in-store customers that leverages SMS to broaden reach to those who do not own smartphones (see more).

Also, with more than 50 percent of Gilt’s revenue coming from mobile, the digital fashion retailer is more than just a leader in mcommerce – it also knows a thing or two about using messaging to drive sales (see more).

“The goal of the Movember messaging campaign is to compliment Movember’s larger efforts to drive awareness during the month of November and beyond,” Mr. Orgel said. ‘”This mobile campaign also adds another layer to participant and donor communication channels such as email, web and mobile app.

“Some messaging engagement tactics Movember is executing include surveys, call-to-action to download the app and promotion of media content with links to YouTube,” he said. “Ultimately, this is a great tool we are excited Movember is leveraging to reach their goals to improve men’s health.”

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Commerce Daily