KIRKLAND, Wash.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Hipcricket, the one-stop mobile marketing and advertising company owned by Augme Technologies (OTCBB: AUGT), today announced that the Virginia Lottery has selected its platform as part of a multichannel mobile marketing initiative. The Virginia Lottery is working to provide its players with a number of choices for interacting with the organization, including QR (Quick Response) codes, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and an opt-in mobile alert program to drive consumer engagement.
Hipcricket is a leader in mobile marketing and advertising solutions for the lottery industry, working with a number of such organizations throughout the U.S. They are partnering with Big River, the Lottery’s agency of record, on this initiative.
The Virginia Lottery, which in its history has provided public schools in the Commonwealth with more than $5 Billion in proceeds, is promoting these mobile initiatives by adding mobile information to a number of its television and radio advertisements. By adding this information, the organization can further leverage its advertising investment and better track the success of its campaigns.
Hipcricket and Big River are working with the Virginia Lottery to create and deploy:
QR codes, which will be added to lottery vending machines and enable current and prospective players to learn more about each game, recent payouts and more, by scanning the QR code with their mobile devices.
Opt-in alerts that can be sent via SMS to players’ phones, along with the winning numbers for the games they select. Players can also join the Virginia Lottery’s mobile loyalty club which allows them to sign up for automatic alerts when jackpots reach a certain threshold.
The Lottery’s TV spot promoting its annual Holiday Scratcher games will be sent to opted-in consumers via MMS. The spot will include a mobile call to action that forwards consumers to the organization’s mobile website and lists retail locations where the scratchers can be purchased.
“The goal of our mobile program is to offer a richer and more engaging experience for our customers,” said Paula Otto, Executive Director of Virginia Lottery. “Hipcricket has been a great partner in this initiative, helping to identify and develop multiple means of mobile engagement for our players.”
“The Virginia Lottery has developed a very advanced mobile marketing strategy that utilizes a number of mobile channels,” said Eric Harber, Hipcricket chief operating officer. “By providing its players so many choices in how they’d like to participate, the Virginia Lottery will be able to increase engagement that can maximize the value of its mobile CRM capabilities.”
About The Virginia Lottery
The Virginia Lottery generates approximately $1.2 million per day for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. Operating entirely on revenue from the sale of Lottery products, rather than tax dollars, the Virginia Lottery raised more than $444 million for Virginia’s public schools in Fiscal Year 2011. This represented about 8 percent of state funding for public education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Follow the Virginia Lottery on Facebook and Twitter. Please play responsibly.
About Hipcricket, Inc.
Hipcricket, owned by Augme Technologies, Inc. Inc. (OTC.BB: AUGT - News), is the one-stop mobile marketing and advertising company that empowers brands, agencies and media properties to engage customers, drive loyalty and increase sales. Hipcricket’s customers connect with consumers across every mobile channel, including SMS, 2D/QR codes, mobile websites, advertising networks, social media and branded apps. Hipcricket’s proven technology, strategic and marketing services and experienced account management teams have provided measurable successes across an industry-leading 130,000 campaigns for such clients as Macy’s, MillerCoors, Nestle, KFC, and Clear Channel. The company has also created the first comprehensive permission-based mobile ad network that taps into the buying power of the mass market with industry-leading capabilities to target customers via location and highly-specific demographic information across SMS, display, rich media and video.
Hipcricket is based in Seattle, Washington, with operations in New York, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, London, and Los Angeles. For more mobile marketing and mobile advertising information, please visit www.hipcricket.com.
About Big River
Big River (www.yourbigriver.com) helps clients achieve their business goals through innovative research that produces unexpected consumer insights and focused brand positioning. The result is powerful creative work that bridges digital communications, experiential and traditional media. Founded by 2001 by Fred Moore, Big River’s clients include Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cortview Capital, Donate Life America, Harris Williams & Co., MoonPie, National 4-H Council and The Virginia Lottery. Big River’s senior team members have worked at some of the nation’s most prestigious advertising agencies including BBDO, Chiat/Day, Cramer-Krasselt, DDB, Leo Burnett and The Martin Agency, on brands such as Anheuser-Busch, Dell, Gatorade, GEICO, Hallmark, McDonald’s, Nabisco, Nike, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble, just to name a few.