Beer giant Heineken is trying to rake in the young Hispanic demographic via mobile as part of its targeted "Bajo Cero" campaign.

The mobile initiative, powered by Celtra and in cooperation with Alloy Access and boutique firm One50One, is meant to build up a mobile database. Through an online widget posted on popular Hispanic Web sites, users can choose to click on the all-Spanish ad and enter in a mobile phone number to become a VIP member.

"As well as being an effective way to build up a database of loyal customers, this initiative is also a one-on-one, VIP connection with the Latino mobile community, which is fairly sizeable," said Michael Souza, vice president of sales and general manager at Celtra, Cambridge, MA.

"Latinos are more active on their phones than other demographics," he said.

Celtra handled all the aggregation and distribution to the carriers for the project. The widget placement on major name, Hispanic-centered Web sites such as http://mia.remezcla.com/re/index.jsp, http://www.nochelatina.com/, along with social network superstars Facebook and Twitter was done by Alloy Access.

The widget shows the Heineken brand message, "Demuestra Quien Eres," meaning "show who you are" in English.

For each of the widget's functionalities the user is automatically linked to a banner that asks for age verification.

If the user is 21, he or she can continue on with any of the widget's options.

If users clicked on the text brand message at the top of the widget, they will receive a voice recording from Heineken.

Directly under the brand message reads "Unete a la comunidad VIP de Heineken Bajo Cero," which translated means "Join Heineken's Below Zero VIP club."

When a user clicks on this call to action, they are asked for their city and then their mobile phone number.

"Heineken wanted to find a way to send out city-specific invites to certain people in the database," Mr. Souza said. "It wanted to register people on mobile for real live events in order to truly target consumers.

"And as mobile V.I.P. members, they get access to exclusive clubs and events," he said.

After entering a number, users are sent a text saying "Hi, you subscribed to Heineken Bajo Cero alerts. Please reply BAJOCERO YES to confirm. For more information, reply BAJOCERO INFO or go to www.celtra.com/sms."

Following all MMA standards, the Bajo Cero campaign requires a double opt-in, meaning users must reply back "BAJOCERO YES" to be a confirmed member of the VIP club.

The user then receives a text message that says "Welcome to Heineken Bajo Cero alerts. To unsubscribe at any time, reply BAJOCERO STOP. For more information, reply BAJOCERO INFO or go to www.celtra.com/sms."

By clicking on the mini-mobile phone, the user is also asked for a mobile phone number. Upon entering the number, users will receive a text message including a link to download a mobile wall paper with the Heineken label.

By combining the mobile initiative with online, Celtra, Alloy Access and One50One equipped the campaign with a viral component.

Along with voice and text messages, the widget also gives the user the option to re-post the widget onto their own blog or Web site.

This news comes off the heels of Michael Souza's recent move to Celtra, heading up marketing, sales and business development.

"I'd like to help Celtra be the first mobile platform to crack the code," Mr. Souza said. "Growing a cutting-edge company is fun, and the goal is to accelerate Celtra's growth.

"Equally as important to me is helping Celtra make an enormous impact on mobile marketing," he said. "Our SaaS platform, and the services that we add on top of it, is remarkable and I think Celtra can play a key role in the industry as mobile marketing grows and matures."