The Radioshack mobile ads

Electronic retailer Radioshack is using mobile advertising to drive in-store traffic with a holiday-themed campaign.

The mobile ads let users find and test the perfect holiday gifts for iPhone users. The mobile ads are running in Apple’s iAd network.

“The primary intent of the experience is to prompt existing Apple users to enhance their devices with accessories from RadioShack,” said Dave Hamlin, senior director of media at Radioshack, Fort Worth, TX.

Mobile holiday
Radioshack is running the campaign with the slogan, “dressed for the holidays.”

The mobile banner ads read, “Dress up your iPhone for the holidays.”

Once users tap on the banner ads, they are taken to a mobile landing page that features five of Radioshack’s most popular holiday gifts including headphones, speakers and iPhone cases.

The products are placed in a circle and users can drop and drag the items to the middle of the page to interact with them more.

Once users select a product, each item encourages users to tap and interact with it.

For example, users who tap on the picture of the headphones are taken to a page where they can scratch a beat on a turn table.

Here is the turntable users can play with to learn more about Radioshack’s products

Similarly, users who tap on a picture of a smartphone keyboard watch the keyboard spring to life and fold up.

Users are then taken to a page where they can view the features and the price of the item.

Consumers can then choose to either add the item to their wish list or find the nearest Radioshack location to pick items up in-store.

To find the nearest location, the ad uses GPS.  Users can also type in their ZIP code to find the nearest location.

Carrier targeting
The Radioshack mobile ad campaign is an example of a creative ad campaign because it lets users interact with the company’s products and is timely with the holiday season.

The company is also only promoting its products for iPhone devices, which makes sense that the ad is running inside the iAd network.

Apple’s advertising platform has gotten a lot of scrutiny about its high prices to advertisers and the limitations it puts on ad creative.

However, based on the message that Radioshack wanted to send to consumers, the iAd platforms makes a natural match for the company.

In addition to mobile advertising, Radioshack also has a mobile site that lets users find nearby stores and buy items.

“Mobile advertising is just one of the many arrows we have in our marketing quiver to drive awareness, consideration and ultimately store traffic and conversion,” Mr. Hamlin said.

“We are not using mobile ads because it is fresh and new – we are utilizing it because this is where we can further connect and engage with our customers,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York