Ace Hardware ran a mobile advertising campaign this holiday season to drive increased store traffic and keep up with the demand of loyal customers.

Ace came to Microsoft Mobile Advertising to develop a targeted and comprehensive strategy to reach primarily homeowners with four distinct offerings. Over the course of the month-long campaign, Ace?s goal was to engage its loyal users on the go and use new media to reinforce Ace?s neighborhood appeal to drive in-store traffic.

?Microsoft Mobile Advertising?s media strategy and comprehensive targeting capabilities doubled top-of-mind brand awareness, which is significant given the economic landscape,? said  Domingo Gonzalez Ponce, supervisor of mobile strategy and  CRM at Horizon Media, Ace?s marketing agency.

Based on in-store promotions, Ace targeted users during the Holiday Sales Series with four distinct promotions:
 
?        20 percent Off Bag Sale
?        ?Tis The Season
?        After Thanksgiving Sale
?        Your Holiday Helpful Place

In addition, Ace drove consumers to a branded landing page that contained an assortment of content including in-store sale information, a store locator, branded videos and an SMS sign-up page for users to hear more about future promotions.

Microsoft Mobile Advertising developed a targeted media solution that engaged users through behavioral targeting and displayed media across both the Verizon Wireless Deck and Microsoft?s Windows Live mobile properties.

Mobile display banners ran over a two-six day timeframe for each flight for maximum brand awareness on MSN Mobile, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail, Verizon Wireless, MSNBC, Wonderwall, FOX Sports and CNBC.

Behavioral-targeted media to ?Home Improvement Enthusiasts? and ?Tools and Hardware Shoppers? helped reinforce Ace?s neighborhood appeal to its target audience. 

All media pointed to the Ace mobile Web site to drive further engagement. Through the use of broad media and best-in-class targeting, Ace achieved:     

?        60 percent increase in brand awareness
?        14 percent increase in purchase intent over the average mobile audience 
?        7 percent lift in consumers planning to visit Ace Hardware in the near future   

?Microsoft Advertising is thrilled to be partnering with Ace Hardware, an innovator who is taking a leadership position in the mobile space,? said Charles Johnson, general manager of Microsoft Mobile Advertising, Redmond, WA.

?Retailers have found a real sweet spot with mobile media - both in terms of lifting their traditional brand metrics, as well as driving incremental in-store traffic and sales,? he said. ?Likewise, consumers are voting with both their thumbs and their feet ? as they are increasingly relying on their mobile devices to stay connected to their favorite retail brands while on-the-go. 

?We are extremely pleased with the results of this campaign, and look forward to partnering with Ace Hardware on future mobile advertising programs.?