Targeting young car owners with fickle loyalty, Jiffy Lube in Los Angeles has launched a geo-targeted mobile ad campaign offering coupons for oil changes.

Kovel/Fuller Interactive, Jiffy Lube's agency, partnered with SMS specialist 4Info for the campaign. The ads will run on 4Info SMS traffic as well as on 4Info partner text traffic such as E! News and Yahoo.

"Jiffy Lube LA is using this campaign to test channels that appeal to young people 18-24 who have not yet established preference for automotive service facilities," said Katinka Soto Lucy, interactive media director at Kovel/Fuller, Culver City, CA. "The goal is to motivate this group to go to Jiffy Lube for their oil changes through the use of attractive incentives.

"The hope is to reach a group that spends more time with online and mobile and who currently fast-forward through television ads and do not read the paper," she said. "Mobile especially lets us reach a group that is on the go, particularly in Los Angeles which is such a car culture.

"Instead of waiting for a customer to find Jiffy Lube through the Yellow Pages, or in their neighborhood, they hope to proactively deliver an appealing money-saving offer to an audience that might not be easily reached another way."

The campaign is designed to reach the 18-24 audience in a new way that speaks to their interests via mobile.

Greasing palms
Jiffy Lube is also offering these text message coupons from its Web site at http://www.jiffyjeffla.com.

The text message ad copy is appended to user-requested text message content and messages such as "20 percent off Jiffy Lube Oil Change! Reply JIFFY" or "Save $7 on a Jiffy Lube Oil Change! Reply JL."

Customers who reply to the ad will receive a text message with a coupon code for redemption, and an invitation to find their nearest Jiffy Lube location by replying via text message with their ZIP code.

Jiffy Lube plans to measure and compare opt-in rates to the coupon offering between the Web and SMS calls-to-action.

The campaign, powered by 4Info, runs through April 9. It is restricted to Los Angeles.

"Mobile services are heavily used by the age group Jiffy Lube LA is targeting with this campaign," Ms. Soto Lucy said. "The cell phone is always close at hand for the target group.

"It delivers our message on our target audience's terms and offers a way to reach these customers who might not be attuned to other advertising," she said. "Jiffy Lube knows that live mobile media is where these consumers are, so they are reaching out to them in that space."

SMS coupons drive traffic
The Los Angeles Jiffy Lube effort comes after a similar mobile coupon campaign worked in the Midwest.

In January, KCCQ, one of a group of Clear Channel radio stations that works with mobile marketing firm HipCricket, added mobile to Jiffy Lube's schedule. The goal was to drive sales, allow for increased measurability and begin a two-way dialogue with listeners (see story).

Also, in September, Jiffy Lube and several Portland-area companies took part in a pilot program that provided free content and discounts exclusively to Cricket Communications' subscribers.

The Cricket Perks pilot program, powered by Mobile Posse, underscored a push by advertisers nationwide to find creative ways to reach potential customers. Subscribers were able to access content such as the weather forecast, a list of new movies, ticket discounts and restaurant deals (see story).

With the Los Angeles campaign, 4Info claims to provide the greatest reach to the Jiffy Lube LA target audience in the mobile space.

Jiffy Lube LA wanted to reach consumers in the mobile space, regardless of whether they have smartphones or mobile data plans. SMS advertising fit that requirement.

In addition, 4Info was able to power the SMS coupon delivery and ZIP code store locator aspects of the campaign.

"Thanks to the economy, saving money is on everybody's mind," Ms. Soto Lucy said. "Coupons are a great way to provide value to customers in a tangible way, and keep the Jiffy Lube brand top-of-mind when it's time for that oil change.

"The coupon provides that added incentive to visit a Jiffy Lube over another competitor," she said.