WWE Studios, the film division for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., recently leveraged a mobile-gaming strategy to promote its Scooby Doo! WrestleMania Mystery DVD. 

The game featured recognizable characters from both Scooby Doo and WWE. After users finished playing the game, they received a direct link to purchase on the end screen, which culminated in the DVD selling out on Amazon.

?It is extremely difficult for brands to connect emotionally with mobile users,? said Rob Grossberg, CEO and co-founder of TreSensa, San Francisco, CA. ?Brands don?t want huge games budget-wise; they?re looking for a snackable experience.?

The studio teamed up with TreSensa to create the unique browser-based mobile game to use as a promotion. The game, available on number of social media sites in addition to WWE?s Web site, resulted in over 1 million plays.

In an interview with Mobile Marketer, Julie Tustin, vice president of marketing for WWE Studios, discussed how the game augmented the brand?s mobile strategy and appealed to target demographics.

What kinds of social media strategies do you employ in promoting your films?
JT: Because of the strength and reach of the WWE brand, we are able to execute robust social media strategies for WWE Studios films across our multiple channels and handles. With the creation of mobile games branded to a particular film, it allows us an exponential amount of increased engagement by users while also allowing them to share the game experience through their own social media. 

With the film content we produce and ultimately promote at time of release, we are always looking for richer ways to connect with our audience in a format that will resonate with them.  We thought a mobile game was the perfect vehicle to achieve this.

SCOOBY-DOO RACE TO WRESTLEMANIA was our first game for mobile. We loved the the idea of the immediacy of a tap and play approach. This approach proved to be an effective  way to lengthen users? time of engagement. This was something that really interested us in terms of creating a richer experience versus just watching a trailer.

Is marketing for mobile devices a strategy that you believe your consumers would respond well to? 
JT: I think mobile has to be integrated into marketing campaigns in a much more creative way to keep up with how content and information are consumed. mobile game designed by TreSensa and the additional distribution platforms they offered was an easily executable solution. 

Another appealing feature of a mobile game created in HTML5 was that it could be posted to users' social media and shared.  This allowed WWE Studios to promote the game through our own social media channels.

Did the mobile game see high levels of customer engagement on mobile?
JT: We saw hundreds of thousands of plays on WWE.com alone, and Warner Bros also distributed the game on the Scooby website.The engagement was off the charts.

Have you hit any mobile milestones this year that you would like to share? 
JT: During Wrestlemania this year, we had a big Scooby Doo booth to promote the DVD. People queued up in line, and we had tablets posted around. We took folks within an event and engaged them with the game while they were in line. It was very open and accessible. Hopefully some walked away with the game on their iPhones.

Do you have any plans to make any short films for mobile?
JT: We?re always looking for new kinds of content, not just feature films. We always look for new ways to distribute. We create all kinds of family films and actions and thrillers. 

What?s next for WWE studios in the mobile or social space?
JT: We would like to build off of what we learned with the Scooby game by looking at future branded games that help promote our films in a fun, interactive way that allows fans to get excited and engaged in our upcoming projects.

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York