Mobile advertising campaigns have become a lot more sophisticated. Gone are the days when marketers would simply link an ad to a mobile-optimized site. Companies are now using location-based technology and running relevant campaigns that encourage users to click on a mobile ad.

Here are the top 10 mobile commerce advertising campaigns of the first quarter, in alphabetical order.

Bank of America
While many companies ran mobile ads to promote its new items or encouraged consumers to go to an in-store location, Bank of America took a different route.

The financial institution ran an interactive iAd campaign to catapult downloads of its mobile banking iPhone application.

The ads walked users through the app’s features and educated them on Bank of America’s mobile banking and the main goal of the ad was to get consumers to download the Bank of America iPhone app.

The mobile ad campaign was a smart move for the company. Bank of America did not need to drive foot traffic to its locations, nor did the company need to sell a new product.

Bank of America had an iPhone application already out there in Apple’s App Store and using mobile ads to drive downloads of the app was clever.

IKEA
Unfortuately, IKEA’s mobile efforts are not commerce-enabled. However, that did not stop the Swedish furniture retailer from running a targeted mobile ad campaign.

IKEA ran mobile ads earlier this year to encourage consumers to visit its locations and browse the company’s products.

The IKEA mobile ads combined location, deals and opt-in programs.

Although consumers were not able to buy products from their mobile devices, they were able to view prices and details for individual items.

The campaign proved that although a retailer might not have a mobile commerce-enabled presence, mobile ads can still be effective in driving in-store traffic.

Google Offers
Earlier this year, Google showed that it was a force to reckon with in the mobile deals space by unveiling its own Google Offers service.

Although the service was in beta, the company still ran expandable mobile ads within Pandora’s iPhone app that automatically let consumers sign-up to receive news about current offers and deals.

The campaign was seamless and after signing up, users got emails from Google and were added to its database.

Google was smart to use Pandora’s iPhone application to run the mobile ads because it let the company better target consumers.

Additionally, users did not have to fill out a form or enter any of their information because Pandora had it already.

JCPenney
Recently, department store chain JCPenney unveiled its new look, as well as its new fair and square pricing.

To promote the new offerings, the company ramped up its mobile commerce strategy via an advertising campaign.

JCPenney’s mobile ad campaign directed consumers to the company’s mobile site where they can shop the latest men’s, women’s, home and bed and bath products.

There, consumers could also browse gift cards, view videos from JCPenney, track their order and find out if they are eligible for the company’s credit card.

The mobile ad campaign was a great way for the company to get the word out about its new look.

Procter & Gamble
Not everyone sells toilet paper on mobile, however, Procter & Gamble did just that with its mobile commerce ad campaign.

Procter & Gamble’s Charmin brand used a game within its advertising campaign to encourage consumers to buy its Ultra Strong products.

When users tapped on the mobile ad they were redirected to Charmin’s mobile site.

What was great about the mobile ad campaign was that Charmin gave consumers a choice. The landing page featured a list of online retailers where consumers could buy toilet paper, including Walmart, Soap.com and drugstore.com.

Consumers could then tap to view the price and check-out via the online retailer.

Additionally, the mobile ads also let consumers buy Charmin’s other products with a drop-down menu that showed all six toilet paper products.

Papa John’s
Papa John’s is one to watch out for in the mobile ordering space.

The pizza chain is no stranger to mobile ads and has been running them constantly over the last year.

In the first-quarter of 2012, Papa John’s continued its mobile ordering push with an ad campaign that not only promoted the company’s new Buffalo Chicken Pizza, but also encouraged consumers to order it via their handset.

When pizza lovers tapped on the mobile ad they were taken to the company’s mobile site where they had the option of getting their order delivered or picking it up.

From there, consumers were also able to browse the Papa John’s menu to see what other items the pizza chain was offering, as well as find the nearest location.

The mobile ad campaign was a smart move for the company because it not only helped them get the word out about its new product, but encouraged mobile sales as well.

Sony Pictures
Movie studios have embraced mobile in the past year, but no one embraced it more than Sony Pictures.

The company continually turned to mobile when it promoted its films – whether they were coming out in theaters or on DVD.

In the first-quarter alone, Sony used mobile commerce-enabled ads to promote “21 Jump Street,” “Jack & Jill,” “The Vow” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

Consumers were redirected to Fandango’s mobile site where they were able to buy their tickets to see the films in theaters.

For movies that were coming out on Blu-ray and DVD, users were able to pre-order their copies via their smartphones.

Subway
Earlier this year, Subway drove consumers to its locations via a mobile advertising campaign that promoted the company’s new line of sandwiches.

The fast food giant’s mobile ads promoted the company’s turkey melt sandwiches and encouraged consumers to create their perfect sandwich.

When users tapped on the mobile ads they were redirected to Subway’s mobile site where they could view a full menu of sandwiches and salads.

The mobile ad campaign was a great way for Subway to drive consumers in-store and the initiative also helped the company interact with users by letting them create their ideal sandwich.

Target
Target has been running mobile commerce-enabled years for a long time.

However, earlier this year the company must have forgotten that their customers do not like to pinch-and-zoom. The mobile advertising campaign the company ran which aimed to offer consumers coupons for the company’s in-store groceries would have been more successful had it been optimized for mobile.

When consumers tapped on the Target mobile ad they were redirected to a landing page that was clearly not optimized for mobile devices.

Users needed to pinch and zoom in order to read the text.

Instead of leading consumers to a mobile-optimized page, Target is led them to its Web site.

What was great about the campaign was that the retail giant redeemed itself by mobilizing the campaign just days after – showing that it is never too late to get back on track.

The new mobile ad was executed better and created a more enjoyable experience for users.

For example, when consumers tapped on the new mobile ad, they were redirected to a mobile-optimized page where no pinching or zooming was necessary.

Victoria’s Secret
Victoria’s Secret used mobile ads to get consumers to shop its products.

Through the initiative, the company promoted its line of Pink panties with a promotion that enticed users to tap on the ad.

When consumers tapped on the mobile ad they were redirected to the company’s landing page where they could shop the promotion.

Additionally, consumers could also browse the products by viewing different styles and colors.

The campaign was a smart move for Victoria’s Secret, who has run mobile ads in the past when promoting new products.

Consumers are always on their mobile devices and running relevant and targeted mobile ads helps increase sales.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York