More than 3,300 consumers texted in to participate in the NBA?s New York Knicks? four-week interactive out-of-home media campaign featuring an SMS call-to-action.

To promote the Knickerbockers? 2009-10 season, the team created a campaign that included CBS Outdoor?s text-messaging platform txt2go.  The Knicks ?Declare? marketing campaign included widely deployed posters in New York subway platforms, which asked fans to text in for a chance to win Knicks season tickets.

?By collaborating with CBS Outdoor to utilize txt2go for part of the Knicks early season marketing campaign, we were able to introduce new fans to the Knicks mobile platform and provide added value for those fans through targeted promotions,? said Howard Jacobs, senior vice president of marketing and ticket sales at Madison Square Garden Sports, New York.

?The campaign was a success and we hope to explore utilizing more mobile marketing tactics like this in the future for the Knicks,? he said.

The NBA?s New York Knicks basketball team is part of Madison Square Garden L.P., which is owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.

MSG Interactive oversees all of the company?s wireless and online initiatives.

CBS Outdoor is an out-of-home media firm with both traditional outdoor and transit properties. The company?s txt2go lets advertisers of any size add a text-messaging element to their overall marketing strategy. 

SMS is a slam dunk
The call-to-action on the subway posters asked consumers to text the keyword DECLARE to the short code 64444 for the chance to win Knicks tickets.

New Yorkers who texted in to enter the sweepstakes received a special promotional offer, which was periodically changed throughout the pre-season campaign.

One promotion sent to the opted-in SMS database offered the chance to win individual game tickets and achieved a 25 percent response rate.

The team also incorporated a direct response element, which enabled additional ticket sales.   

Using txt2go, the Knicks were able to access real-time performance data that could help measure how various promotions performed and allowed them to make adjustments on an ongoing basis.

This provided the Knicks with a significant base of individuals to test promotions prior to finalizing general market strategies for the season, and helped increase the team?s mobile fan base. 

The Knicks Declare marketing campaign is focused on connecting the fans, the city and the team and establishing a two-way dialogue with basketball fans, according to Madison Square Garden Sports.

The mobile component was critical to the Knicks? Declare campaign, as it was the only call-to-action for consumers to respond to.

Using txt2go, the Knicks incorporated sweepstakes, digital couponing and customer loyalty elements into the campaign and gained insight into its fan base via CBS Outdoor?s real-time performance data.

?Txt2go provides our clients with real-time performance data which allows them to adjust their marketing strategy during a campaign to more effectively reach their target audience and increase the success of the campaign,? said David Lane, vice president of digital media at CBS Outdoor, New York.

?We design the mobile strategy around our client?s campaign objectives,? he said. ?We ensure they effectively use txt2go during the media campaign, as well as the ongoing communication to their lists of mobile subscribers.?