By Alec S. Andronikov

To entice consumers to engage with a mobile campaign promoting a theatrical release, there are two key elements that drive a successful campaign: wide mobile distribution combined with interactive elements that engage the consumer in a dialogue with the brand.

Many mobile campaigns lack one of these elements. Here are a few case studies and components of previous successful mobile campaigns that have proven to be effective.

A mobile campaign execution is often driven by the creative forces at the studio. It is, however, too easy to get carried away with an interactive idea and concentrate all the efforts of a mobile campaign on the creative aspect of mobile while forgetting the crucial component of mobile distribution that enables wide customer reach.

Way too often do we see a movie studio spending considerable time and resources to develop, say, a movie trailer that renders on the top 10 devices, while having very little strategy as to how to distribute and target the trailer to its target audience.

On the other hand, media buying agencies sometimes tend to steer their movie studio clients toward a mobile media purchase for the sake of "doing mobile" without thinking about the interactivity with a consumer.

Buying WAP display ads to drive a consumer to a movie WAP site means purely engaging in an advertising push campaign without creating a dialogue, typically resulting in a negative experience for the user.

To complement the aforementioned key elements of reach and interactivity, savvy mobile movie marketers should consider these mobile tactics:

Give your audience an easy entry point to engage themselves and their peers
Unlike the online medium, mobile engagement rates are high, especially within SMS placements, driving an average of 1.5 percent click-through rate within SMS ad networks.

While this could be attributed to the novelty factor of the medium, SMS is a great way to engage your audience as an SMS ad has 100 percent share of voice and sits on a medium that no one ignores.

SMS ads, while not very appealing or interactive at first sight, have been used in many highly successful campaigns as an entry point to consumer interactivity. The calls to action typically are a WAP link, 800 number, click-to-call, click-to-application download or click to the iPhone App Store distribution mechanism.

In a recent campaign for a theatrical release for a romantic comedy about single life and dating, a major movie studio used an SMS ad network's platform to target female audiences receiving SMS alerts to drive them to a WAP site loaded with engagement components.

SMS alert content -- such as horoscopes, celebrity gossip and entertainment -- was followed by a WAP link to a mobile site containing a movie synopsis, a localized find-a-theater function and a sign-up page where users could opt in to receive "mobile flirts."

A viral component on the WAP site gave users the option to send an SMS to their friends, asking them about their relationship status -- "Is Your Guy Into You?" "and inviting them to see the movie.

While the initial SMS engagement rate was significantly higher than average, an astonishing 15 percent of the users who received an SMS from their friend on the WAP site actually went to check out the movie WAP site themselves.

Create a conversation with your audience
Give your audience a chance to talk back to your brand and become immersed in the movie via a mobile experience.

An IVR component adds personality and interactivity to the campaign, since the consumers are engaged via voice -- the most widely-used mobile medium -- by receiving a phone call with a recorded message or a menu.

This medium has the widest reach and could be used to interact with your target audience by having them respond to IVR alerts and engage them for time-sensitive promotions and the promotion of celebrity/movie personality characters.

A great example of a successful mobile campaign with an IVR component was Paramount Pictures' 2008 release "Eagle Eye."

In line with the film's mysterious plot line, a user receives a call warning that "you've been activated" and the line is no longer secure. The call is followed up by warnings and hints that come via text message, interactive response and SMS.

All of these components were cleverly used to build hype around the movie and its plot -- without giving away too much information -- so that all was revealed on Sept. 26, the film's release date.

Success of this execution stemmed from a well-thought out interactive element combined with a strategic distribution plan where mobile banners were placed across the Millennial Media network and on a variety of sites including MLB, CBS, TV Guide and WeatherBug, driving consumers to opt-in via a box on the banner.

Make it custom: WII-FM (What's in it for me?)
Mobile can be an extremely viral medium if a user has been engaged and intrigued by the brand, the characters, the plot or the interactivity of the campaign.

Most users -- upon seeing a compelling offer, a funny call to action, or something deemed "way cool" -- will forward the message on to their friends.

Campaign customization and an appeal to each user's individuality can go a long way to improve interaction, interest and ticket purchase intent.

A couple of campaigns, including New Line Cinema's "Snakes on the Plane" and more recently, Dreamworks' "Transformers" DVD release, followed the customization approach.

In the "Transformers" mobile campaign, a user could use an online application to have the film's Optimus Prime character call their friend with a custom message along with a call to action to both create their own message and buy the Transformers DVD.

The campaign drove more than 1.27 million unique recipients in 20 days to engage with the mobile medium.

Once they are hooked, engage them, don't lose them
Mobile campaigns have also shown us that once the audience is engaged with a mobile medium, they stay engaged at a very high rate. This is a fundamental paradigm shift from the online medium where each click results in a significant drop-off in traffic.

With mobile, the most difficult part is engaging the user initially. Once users start their engagement with the mobile medium, they tend to stay engaged with the brand.

In a recent campaign for the release of "The Golden Compass," New Line Cinema used Greystripe's network to measure the effectiveness of engagement and brand affinity throughout the campaign.

According to a brand impact study by Dynamic Logic, the mobile campaign aided awareness of the film by 19.3 points, which represented a 45 percent increase in awareness of the film.

Furthermore, mobile engagement rate measurements found that 39 percent of the audience used their mobile phone to "find theaters and movie times" while 29 percent "watched movie trailers."

While it is seemingly easy to launch a mobile campaign, there are a variety of factors that can make a film's mobile campaign successful.

Overall, it is essential to start with a foundation of the right media mix to create scale, followed by an interesting, customizable and personable creative interaction and topped by a viral component that engages a broader audience.

Alec S. Andronikov is CEO and chief mobilizer of MoVoxx Inc., Los Angeles. Reach him at .