• by Karl Greenberg , June 20, 2007

Hyundai is expanding a mobile media campaign pitching ringtones, music and cars to 18- to-34-year-old consumers on their cell phones and wireless media devices. The effort includes a multimedia mobile Web site, content downloads, and a text messaging campaign, and ads.

The campaign, developed earlier this year with mobile technology company Enpocket, includes a Hyundai mobile Web site touting the new Veracruz crossover vehicle; a Hyundai ringtone download site focused on Hyundai's Elantra sedan and featuring tones from emerging artists like the Ataris and Secondhand Serenade--with the ringtones also on the Elantra MySpace Web page.

The Fountain Valley, Calif. automaker is using mobile banner ads running on the Sprint Mobile Media Network to promote the raft of mobile programs it is running.

Back in March, Hyundai sponsored a text-to-vote campaign during the South by Southwest music and arts festival in Austin, Texas.

Eric D'Ablaing, Hyundai interactive marketing administrator, said in a release that "Enpocket was able to quickly deliver a complete mobile program for Hyundai that included cutting-edge ad mechanics and complete campaign reporting."

Mike Baker, CEO of Boston-based Enpocket, said Hyundai is one of 10 international automakers using Enpocket--which delivers Sprint's mobile ad network--to develop integrated mobile advertising programs.

"There has been a wave of advertisers moving through test phase into some steady-state budgeting for mobile," he says, adding that the first advertisers were, not surprisingly, mobile service and content providers like EA Sports, and Mobile TV, whose services can be purchased for handsets.

As advertisers on mobile, the automotive category ranks closely behind mobile content, he says. Another automaker testing the service, he said, is "ecstatic about the number of leads they are getting to dealers."

Hyundai's effort, which involves activity around music, is less focused at the bottom of the purchase funnel, says Baker, where consumers are actively shopping for vehicles.

"It's mid-funnel. It's about getting people engaged with the brand," he says.

Hyundai's campaign exploits voice, text messaging, picture messaging, Web browsing and video, the five "modes" Enpocket uses as ad platforms.

"If you want to do it right you have to incorporate sponsored downloads, applications, texting, mobile banner ads, mobile Web sites ... the answer for a compelling (mobile) ad experience is appropriately mixing these things," he says.