Microsoft Corp. is running a multichannel campaign to drive traffic to its MSN Mobile WAP site.

The company is using Flash banner ads on the computer Internet, mobile ads across many mobile ad networks and mobile search to draw attention to the site at http://mobile.msn.com. Mobile marketing services firm 5th Finger handles the effort that targets users of the mobile Web.

"MSN wants to maximize the level of interaction with consumers on a daily basis and increase the adoption of the MSN mobile WAP site, MSN Mobile," said Scott Crissman, group marketing manager of MSN Mobile.

"The focus is to build consumer awareness and to drive trial usage of the site," he said.

A sweepstakes effort titled "Get Your Fix Zune Sweepstakes" is a key component of the campaign.

So, consumers who go online on their computer can enter the mobile number into a MSN Mobile banner ad. They will immediately receive an SMS text message that directs them to the MSN Mobile sweepstakes page on their mobile phone to see if they are the day's Zune winner.

After that action, they are then directed to the MSN Mobile site.

If consumers click on the mobile ad, they are then taken to the sweepstakes landing page and thereafter to the MSN Mobile site.

Consumers get to win a Zune digital music player each day that they visit MSN Mobile through the sweepstakes landing page. The terms and conditions are listed on http://clients.air-cast.us/msn_zune.

Zune is a Microsoft rival to the Apple iPod.

"The objective is to add incentive to click on the banners, and then to also drive repeat visitation by having customers having a new chance to win a Zune each new day they come back to the site," said Steen Andersson, vice president of marketing at 5th Finger, San Francisco.

MSN Mobile is running the promotions using 5th Finger's air-cast GoMobile platform, a Web-to-mobile widget that allows interaction between the Web, SMS text messaging and the mobile Internet.

"Components of the campaign, such as the sweepstakes for driving MSN Mobile traffic, are new to MSN Mobile," Mr. Crissman said.

"Other tactics, such as WAP banner ads, PC banner ads with SMS integration and direct email, have been successfully in place," he said, "and 5th Finger enables us to run the campaign even better and more efficiently than in the past due to air-cast and backend technologies."