US National Guard

US National Guard

2ergo helps the Army National Guard reach its target demographic through mobile

2ergo helps the Army National Guard reach its target demographic through mobile

The Challenge

In its efforts to reach the elusive 17-to-24 year old demographic, The National Guard wanted to create a cross-media campaign that extended its brand and served as a compelling recruiting tool. Working with LM&O Advertising, The National Guard planned to launch a nationwide theater advertising campaign featuring 'Warrior', a two-and-a-half minute video spot with three parallel story lines – Kid Rock performing a USO-type show, Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcoming adversity on the racetrack, and National Guard Soldiers serving heroically in the face of danger. The campaign would also be supported by out-of-theater elements including an official website and a partnership with Yahoo! to drive search traffic.

The video itself packed a punch, but LM&O Advertising recognised that the campaign was missing a critical piece – it needed a mobile component that allowed consumers to interact with the campaign on their mobile phones – and so it turned to 2ergo.

The Solution

Using 2ergo's mobile marketing platform and content assets from The National Guard, the advertising agency partnered with 2ergo in the creation of a branded mobile internet site that allows movie watchers to access and interact with the 'Warrior' campaign on their mobile phones while sitting in the theater. The mobile website features the 'Warrior' video (in streaming, downloadable and iPhone-optimised versions), free MP3 and wallpaper downloads, and a 'contact a recruiter' form for those interested in more information about The National Guard.

The Results

Launched in August 2008, the 'Warrior' campaign appeared before PG-13 and R rated movies in 3,117 theaters on 27,079 screens nationwide.

• Working closely together, 2ergo and LM&O Advertising were able to manage tight deadlines and launch the mobile website in less than one week.
• Thanks to 2ergo's proprietary platform and device detection technology, the mobile site was able to support both streaming and downloadable video, and the site looks great regardless of the end user's phone.
• Movie-watchers were able to visit the Warrior mobile website while sitting in the theater, which resulted in traffic peaks to the site during the weekends when consumers typically go to the movie.
• During the campaign, the mobile site served over 50,000 page views to thousands of unique visitors and supported more than 26,000 content downloads.
• The initial two month campaign window was extended and additional campaigns were requested by the client.

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