General Motor?s Cadillac is promoting its CTS-V Coupe motor vehicle through a launch sponsorship of Automobile magazine?s iPhone application.

The campaign lets users click on Cadillac ad units to launch a branded microsite with special content and features, without ever leaving the application. The automaker is targeting consumers ages 25-54 with annual household incomes greater than $200,000.

?This campaign supports Cadillac?s initiative to drive brand awareness of the CTS Coupe with an affluent demographic by engaging them with rich media,? said Ken Willner, CEO of Zumobi, Seattle.

?The benefit for Cadillac in doing this premium sponsorship campaign through the Automobile Magazine app on the Zumobi Network is that they are guaranteed placement juxtaposed with respected, trusted and appropriate third-party content,? he said.

?And by buying the launch sponsorship, Cadillac is engaging this audience exclusively during the flight of the campaign."

The Automobile application focuses on auto industry developments and includes news articles, photos and videos.

Zumobi developed the application and its in-house design team produced Cadillac?s ads, which were displayed using  the mobile media company?s BrandBlast advertising platform.

The BrandBlast platform allows the Cadillac promotional materials to take the appearance of distinct application experience within the Automobile application.

An app within an app
The application is available for free in the Apple App Store and is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch.

When the application is loading, a screen appears that includes a Cadillac sponsorship message.

Here is a screen grab of the application?s load screen:

Once the home page has loaded, users can click on an 80x70-pixel Cadillac graphic on the bottom right corner of the screen to launch an interactive BrandBlast microsite within the application.

Users can also reach the microsite by clicking a 320x150-pixel expanded ad unit that appears when viewing certain content within the application before collapsing into a standard 320x50-pixel banner ad.

Here is a screen grab of an expanded banner ad in an Automobile article in the application:

Clicking the ?Photo Gallery? button lets users toggle through different images of the vehicle by scrolling right or left with their fingers.

And, clicking the ?Learn More? button launches a new section of the ad where users can explore the capabilities of the Coupe in greater detail.

An ?Overview? page includes background information about the vehicle.

A ?Features? page includes vehicle specifications and engineering information.

?Photos? includes more high-quality images of the CTS-V Coupe in action.

In addition, ?360/Videos? includes a rich-media graphic that scans around the exterior of the Coupe, plus a link to YouTube videos that showcase the vehicle using cinematic filming techniques.

Each page also contains additional links to the following features:

? Links to pages for other Cadillac vehicles

? A dealership locator

? Search for current CTS-V offers by ZIP code

? Opt-in to receive email updates about Cadillac vehicles

? Links to Cadillac information on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook

Mobile gives car makers the edge
Automakers have aggressively pursued mobile advertising strategies recently, with impressive results.

For example, Buick saw a 35 percent increase in purchase intent for its Lacrosse vehicle after the execution of a mobile immersion ad campaign (see story).

And, Kia Motors said that its mobile ad initiatives have consistently outperformed traditional Web advertising tactics (see story).

Cadillac?s use of the BrandBlast platform brings a new element to the mobile advertising value proposition by embedding an interactive, branded environment within Zumobi applications.

?BrandBlast offers many possibilities for brands to meet their objectives, but the key is contextual relevance in the specific app of their choice that also maintains the same high quality look, feel and graphics in the ad that the user experiences in the app itself,? Mr. Willner said.

?These are the benefits of sponsorship on a premium mobile app network where the content and advertising are delivered by a single entity,? he said.

Final Take
Peter Finocchiaro, editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer, New York