Fast food giant Wendy?s is continuing to make mobile a big part of its marketing efforts with a new campaign that aims to increase in-store traffic and bolster brand awareness.

Wendy?s is running the campaign within Pandora?s iPhone application. In addition to mobile advertising, the company also has a branded radio station.

"It is not only smart for Wendy's to embrace mobile ads it is an imperative," said Cameron Yuill, founder of AdGent Digital.

"Mobile has the obvious benefit of targeting users in location," he said. "But very simply just prior to meal times when people are making decisions on a what they are eating much of the population is at work, commuting or out of home and away from their TV screens and other media.

"The one screen that we all have is mobile. A message or an offer that is targeted to a user at that decision moment is far more likely to drive traffic into a store than other media."

Mr. Yuill is not affiliated with Wendy's. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Wendy?s did not respond to press inquiries.

Fast food
Wendy?s is running mobile banner, expandable and audio ads within Pandora that promote its menu items and ingredients.

Consumers are encouraged to tap on the mobile ads to get a taste of the ingredients the fast food giant uses.

From there, users are taken to a mobile-optimized page where they can scroll through each screen and tap the icons to learn more about the way Wendy?s approaches fast food.

For example, consumers can tap on the Redefining Quality icon to browse fresh facts, such as how Wendy?s fresh-made salads feature 11 types of greens or how all of the company?s beef is from the United States.

The mobile ad campaign aims to educate consumers on the company?s fresh ingredients and encourages them to learn more about the company.

Through the campaign, users can also browse the Wendy?s menu, as well as visit the company?s YouTube page to browse its videos.

Additionally, Wendy?s partnered with Pandora to roll out a branded radio station that further solidifies the company?s push to continually be where its customers are. 

By incorporating mobile advertising, radio and a branded radio station into the mix, Wendy?s is proving that it is one to watch out for in the mobile space.

Mobile efforts
Wendy?s has been strengthening its position in mobile over the past few years.

Last year, Wendy?s cemented its place in the mobile medium via an integrated campaign that promoted the company?s new Wild Berry Frosty shake and drove consumers to the nearest locations to try it (see story).

In December, the fast food chain drove consumers to its locations to try the company?s new hamburgers via two geotargeted mobile ad campaigns (see story).

Most recently, Wendy?s made mobile a key element of its digital strategy by rolling out a mobile app that focused on providing important nutritional information (see story).

"I predict that fast food chains and other retailers will very quickly start to shift significant budgets to mobile advertising precisely because it is the one screen we always have with us around mealtimes," Mr. Yuill said.

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