Coca-Cola brand Powerade is teaming up with app-based social fitness community Endomondo to sponsor a new feature, the Powerade hydration meter, as well as a series of sports challenges.

Endomondo apps use a mobile device?s built-in GPS to record a user?s history of workouts for distance-based activities such as running and cycling in addition to social interaction and motivation. With proper hydration an essential element of physical activity, the Powerade hydration meter helps users stay aware of how much they should be drinking so they can maintain their peak physical and mental performance.

?Endomondo shares a vision with The Coca-Cola Company of a world where everybody exercises, and Powerade has a strong brand that can help spread this message so others can see how Endomondo makes fitness fun,? said Mette Lykke, co-founder of Endomondo, Copenhagen, Denmark.

?Hydration is important for performance and general health ? for recreational and serious athletes alike,? she said. ?It's especially important during and after longer workouts on hot days, and we want to make users aware of how much they should be drinking.

?If there is a strong strategic fit, brands can use mobile apps to create awareness for their products while offering real user value. It's a lot more sophisticated than just traditional banner ads.?

Endomondo has over 12 million users worldwide.

Reaching a targeted audience
Powerade is also sponsoring several sports challenges on the Endomondo app that reward those exercising.

A growing number of brands are eyeing app sponsorships as a way to reach a highly targeted audience.

For example, The Marriott Rewards Chase card is promoting its rewards perks to on-the-go business travelers with an exclusive sponsorship of the new Gayot.com mobile application, which offers reviews of restaurants written by professionals (see story).

Earlier this year, Subway sponsored the PrePlay football game application to engage sports fans during the Super Bowl XLVI (see story).

Data integrations
Mobile app sponsorships may offer brands an opportunity to improve on the effectiveness of their traditional Web site sponsorships.

?Apps tend to be more niche than Web sites, and so could conceivably be more concentrated with people squarely in the advertiser?s target,? said Brennan Hayden, executive vice president and chief operating officer at WDA, East Lansing, MI.

?The app experience provides an environment that allows a more nuanced, data-rich and therefore timely and accurate messaging environment for an advertiser,? he said.

However, there are some challenges with app sponsorships, including the need for the app to be designed to collects the data necessary for targeting accuracy. Additionally, the advertiser needs to develop the integrations to the data, and also the methods, processes and technology to use the data.

?The challenge is establishing the relationships necessary to conduct the transaction efficiently, since app publishers tend to be developers first and publishers second, and so the advertising model is not second nature, even for publishers who currently syndicate their impression inventory,? Mr. Hayden said. ?Sponsorship is an area where a middleman infrastructure would possibly accelerate and multiply these sorts of deals, to the benefit of everyone.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York