Big Lots and Lifetime Serve Up a Mobile Advertising Program With Limbo to Drive Holiday Sales and Increase Viewership

Big Lots, America’s largest broadline closeout retailer, and Lifetime Television, the top-rated women’s network on basic cable, are partnering with LimboTM, the world’s largest mobile entertainment community, to drive engagement with an interactive, mobile advertising campaign during the week of the Thanksgiving holiday. The program is designed to drive purchase intent for Big Lots in the key week leading up to Black Friday.

“Previous campaigns have generated more than a half million text messages from the Lifetime Television audience as viewers played the game via their cell phones as they watched the featured programs,” said Jonathon Linner, CEO and co-founder of Limbo. “Unlike other interactive programs that require players to leave the television and go to a computer to enter and play, it’s easy to watch Lifetime and play Limbo at the same time so viewers tend to stay and watch programs for longer durations of time.”

The interactive program, beginning Sunday, November 18 and culminating on Thanksgiving Day, will integrate on-air promotional spots on Lifetime Television with Limbo’s integrated, full-service platform, including SMS, WAP, Internet and Email. The promotional spots will feature two prominent calls to action, for mobile and Internet entrants, to play an interactive Limbo Unique game to win a grand prize of $5,000 and one of five $500 Big Lots gift cards. While interacting with Limbo’s free game service, players also will receive branded Big Lots messaging. Previous Limbo campaigns have garnered advertisers an average conversion to purchase of seven percent, an average of more than 50 branded interactions per SMS player and an average of 15 minutes per web gameplay session per online player, according to third party research conducted post-campaign.

Lifetime Television and Limbo introduced the weekend and holiday campaigns early in 2006. Kathy Zanewicz of Apollo, PA discovered the programs, and Limbo, through LifetimeTV.com during a campaign last Thanksgiving, and later won $500 toward a diamond necklace. Since then, Kathy has become an avid Limbo player: “In the morning, I get the kids off to school and then sit down with a big cup of coffee and Limbo. My computer is right beside the TV, so I make all of my picks for the day while I watch Lifetime.”

Courtesy: BusinessWire