Contextually targeting ads to moviegoers interested in Marvel Entertainment's "Iron Man" flick has led to a 3 percent opt-in for text alerts on another superhero franchise movie, "The Incredible Hulk."

When callers to a movie application such as Fandango or Moviefone ask for Iron Man show times, they hear an audio ad for the Hulk, which is expected in theaters June 13. The mobile callers are then told to "Press 1" if they'd like to receive a text message the day before the Hulk movie comes out.

"The strategy here was to contextually target our Hulk ads to an audience of active moviegoers," said Megan Crowell, interactive media supervisor for Ignited, Los Angeles agency that handles the Hulk account for movie maker Universal Studios.

"In the past, we've been able to serve these audio ads to users who are checking show times, but now we're able to surgically drill down to find fans of related properties and genres," she said.

"Being able to reach fans of one Marvel film and remind them of The Incredible Hulk release with a text alert right before it hits theaters is just another way to effectively engage these fans and drive box-office results."

Ignited handles media planning and buying for Universal, maker of the Hulk movie under license from Marvel. Apptera's mobile advertising technology is being used to have callers interact with speech-enabled movie show time applications.

Over the course of the two-week campaign, Apptera received 100,000 calls for people requesting movie showtimes and tickets.

Of them, roughly 30 percent asked for Iron Man. Apptera then filtered the incoming phone numbers and identified that 50 percent were coming from mobile callers and the rest were from landline callers.

Out of the 15,000 that heard the Hulk ad, 3 percent requested the SMS message. These fans were then sent an immediate confirmation and will receive an SMS reminder message June 12.

Voice ads get five to 10 times higher click-through rates than banner or keyword ads and can be charged on a CPM or CPC basis only when a user opts in, according to Apptera.

More than 5 million mobile calls are placed each month to movie-ticketing services.

Apptera's mobile advertising technology offers contextual multimedia promotions to callers when they interact with speech-enabled movie showtime applications.

In this case, when speaking the words "Iron Man," the audio ad for The Incredible Hulk is triggered. This will allow the fan to interact with the movie brand before the requested movie comes out.

Then, the day before the premiere, callers will get an SMS reminder that encourages them to see the movie on opening weekend.

Apptera's MobileAd Technology works for Free 411 and social music services as well as movie-ticketing applications. The services are provided in-call, at the exact moment a consumer is interacting with a business over the phone.

Ignited is one of the leading independent agencies in Los Angeles, offering clients marketing and branding services including advertising, interactive, event management, strategic planning, promotions, graphic design and media planning and buying.

This was a pilot program to test the effectiveness of promoting related movies to callers of movie-ticketing services.

"We wanted to prove that by effectively targeting fans of a particular movie or movie genre, we could entice them to learn more about a future movie," said Randy Haldeman, chief marketing officer of Apptera, San Bruno, CA.

"The MobileAd Manager serves targeted and relevant audio ads with associated visual media, such as text messages, driving directions and coupons," he said.

The MobileAd Manager can target ads based on the caller's location and the genre, rating and name of the movie.

In order for the ads not to seem intrusive, they should be around 10 seconds or less because any longer and they start to feel burdensome, Mr. Haldeman said.

The system is programmed to only serve ads that are relevant If no ads match the intent of the caller, an ad won't be played. And ads must be targeted.

Apptera will soon be running a campaign for "Dinner and a Movie."

So, for instance, if a caller in Redwood City, CA, asks about a G-rated movie, they'll hear an ad such as the following: "Before the movie, stop by Chili's on Main Street in Redwood City for a quick meal. Show your ticket stub for a free dessert for the kids."

"Now that is short, targeted and relevant," Mr. Haldeman said.

"There is a high likelihood that many hearing that ad will be interested," he said. "They may not go to Chili's that night, but they won't find that ad intrusive. More than likely, they'll find that ad clever."