Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Samsung Mobile has announced two opportunities for gamers to win a chance to attend the World Cyber Games 2008 Grand Final in Cologne, Germany, this Nov. 5-9.

Now in its second year, Samsung Mobile will host the Samsung Mobile Challenge at World Cyber Games events in 10 countries, ending with the Grand Final. During Oct. 3-5, Samsung Mobile will offer the opportunity for the general public to enter the Samsung Mobile Challenge as a walk-up contestant with a chance to win cash, prizes and a trip to the World Cyber Games 2008 Grand Final in Germany to play for a $10,000 grand prize.

"Samsung Mobile's online and offline sweepstakes targets mostly young males who can't live without their mobile phones and use them extensively for texting and entertainment," said Paul Golden, vice president of strategic marketing for Samsung Mobile, Richardson, TX.

"The Samsung Mobile Challenge sweepstakes engages consumers by getting them to use our handsets to compete in head-to-head challenges for prizes," he said.

Samsung is targeting a young male audience with its sponsorship of the World Cyber Games.

"Samsung Mobile is reaching out to this segment who tend to be heavy users of multimedia applications on their mobile phones, Internet, email and especially gaming," Mr. Golden said. "These users tend to focus on feature-rich devices."

Mobile games are often on a pay-per-download model, but there are a growing number of ad-supported mobile games.

Samsung downplayed the in-game advertising.

"Samsung Mobile does not necessarily have advertising embedded in the games on the mobile phones," Mr. Golden said. "The objective is to demonstrate the gaming capabilities of Samsung mobile phones."

The E For All Expo, a consumer gaming event held in Los Angeles, will serve as the location for the World Cyber Games USA 2008 National Final.

The Samsung Mobile Challenge will feature the recently launched Samsung INNOV8 and M3510 as the official mobile phones of the World Cyber Games.

Participants will have the opportunity to play Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, developed by Gameloft, the official game of this year's Samsung Mobile Challenge.

The game puts the user in the driver seat of 10 dream cars and motorcycles with amazing 3D environments and various racing modes in different global locations like Paris, Shanghai and New York City.

In addition to its presence at the E For All Expo, Samsung Mobile is offering gamers a chance to play Jet Set Racer, a game inspired by Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, on Samsung Mobile's Web site.

Consumers can log on to http://wcg.samsungmobile.com to compete against other players in the online racing competition where the driver must become the most prestigious racer and achieve a high score.

The competition ends September 28 and high scoring players will win Samsung mobile phones and/or games and the highest scoring player will win a trip to the World Cyber Games 2008 Grand Final in Cologne.

The World Cyber Games is a global e-Sports tournament and festival, with more than 700 players from more than 70 countries participating annually.

The World Cyber Games uses a yearlong tournament format, which begins with online, regional and national competitions in each country.

National finalists then convene to compete in the World Cyber Games Grand Final, where each country's best players battle for the largest and most prestigious prizes in competitive gaming.

"Samsung uses the World Cyber Games to increase brand awareness among gamers drawn to this competition who tend to be early adopters of technology," Mr. Golden said.

"A secondary benefit of this sponsorship is the ability to draw awareness to our technology leadership and our best-in-class products, like the recently launched 8 megapixel INNOV8," he said.

Samsung is running a comprehensive marketing campaign around the event.

"With the World Cyber Games, Samsung reaches the consumers in many ways -- online, over the air and on-site -- to provide a fully integrated approach to the specific segment of the market it is targeting," Mr. Golden said. "Samsung activates the sponsorship on-site with the Samsung Mobile Challenge walk-on contest at each of the regional finals.

"By integrating the mobile phones into the challenges, Samsung is able to give consumers hands-on experience of our technology and design," he said. "Samsung Mobile will also be activating its sponsorship onsite with signage and an exhibit highlighting our innovative products."

Samsung is also serving ads on the Web to raise awareness about the sweepstakes.

"Online, Samsung is running a promotion to create additional awareness of our sponsorship," Mr. Golden said. "Online advertising is used to push consumers to our content website, Samsung Fun Club, to compete for a chance to win a trip to Germany and the World Cyber Games Finals."