Oil change service chain EZ Lube targeted mobile consumers with a mobile loyalty campaign meant to drive people to its locations.

The campaign consisted of a 40-character ad tag at the end of an SMS, which necessitated a short and to-the-point message. The ad tag read: "Win 1 year free oil change! Reply EZ."

"Because the cost of reaching people on mobile is so low, we were able to build a cost-effective mobile database to launch a full mobile loyalty program," said Dan Jones, vice president of sales at SmartReply, the Irvine, CA-based marketing firm that powered the EZ program and campaign.

Based in California, EZ Lube offers services such as changing oil, installing oil filters, lubricating chassis, checking air filters, checking/filling power steering, battery, windshield, transmission or transaxle, gearbox fluids and brake fluid level.

SmartReply is a mobile marketing and advertising service provider.

The company is sending SMS messages to loyal customers in the Los Angeles area to remind them to come in for a car care oil change and other services, depending on the customer's last visit.

There are two different offers consumer can receive.

The first is being publicized via radio and media outlets, asking consumers to text in for a chance to win free oil changes for a year.

The call-to-action resulted in a 7.5 percent response rate to date.

Consumers that texted in were asked to reply back to opt-in for exclusive updates and offers from EZ Lube.

According to SmartReply, 15 percent of the consumers that responded to the call-to-action also opted in for future EZ Lube communications.

A sample loyalty message from the oil change service provider said, "Save now on oil change, reply easy."

That message received a 2.5 percent response rate.

The campaign first launched in April and it still running.

EZ Lube is not the first oil change service provider to use mobile coupons to build customer loyalty.

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

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

"Mobile was perfect fit for EZ Lube's overall strategy, which was to get people into their locations," Mr. Jones said. "They recognize how powerful a communication device mobile is.

"What better way to do that than sending a coupon that can only be redeemed in-store," he said.