The company is running interactive mobile ads within Us Magazine’s mobile site. Sony Pictures has been ramping up its mobile presence over the past year and using mobile ads to help drive awareness about its new releases.

“Sony driving pre-orders for a copy of any film is indeed a good way to gain traffic with an ability to pre-order through iTunes,” said Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis, Atlanta.

Ms. Troutman is not affiliated with Sony Pictures. She commented based on her expertise on the subject.

Sony Pictures did not respond to press inquiries.

User engagement
The Jack and Jill mobile banner ad promotes the new film, as well as lets users watch a trailer for the upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release.

Consumers are also encouraged to tap on the mobile banner ad to pre-order their copy of the film.

Once users tap on the mobile ad, they are redirected to an iTunes page where they can order their copy for $17.99, which they can later watch on their iPhone, iPad or computer.

Consumers can buy the movie via their handset

Consumers can also browse ratings to see what others are saying about the film and view a synopsis of the movie.

Past efforts
This is not Sony’s first foray into mobile advertising.

Last year, Sony let consumers buy tickets and view showtimes for its “30 Minutes or Less” film via a mobile ad (see story).

Recently, the company used mobile ads to drive awareness for its new film “The Vow” and let movie enthusiasts buy tickets via their mobile device (see story).

Sony also drove sales for its “Bad Teacher” film via mobile ads and lets consumers pre-order their copy through iTunes (see story).

“Consumers like the ability to click an ad to see a preview, which is available through iTunes, although the site, iTunes is not optimized for mobile and would be difficult to navigate on most phones,” Ms. Troutman said.

“On the upside, the iTunes site does produce a preview that can be viewed on mobile to give consumers the ability to try it before they buy it,” she said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York