Swiss Instant-Win Delivers Prizes by Cell Phone

Colgate-Palmolive broke new ground last month with a Swiss instant-win game that awarded its prizes—airline miles—by cell phone.

The sweeps, dubbed "SMS & Win Miles," put prize codes on-pack across three Colgate products: Ajax, Softlan and Palmolive dish soaps. Consumers used SMS to text in the on-pack code to get an instant-win message. Five hundred winners got Swiss TravelClub Miles from Swiss International Airlines (2.7 million miles in all).

The instant-win message prompted winners to text their TravelClub member number and have the miles immediately credited to their frequent-flier account. (Winners without a TravelClub account could register with Swiss TravelClub and then claim their prize.)

Swiss winners used cell phones to collect their prizes

The game ran Oct. 24-29 via Zurich-based agency Loyalty Gate, with an assist from mobile marketing agency Wirelesspark.

In the U.S., on-pack instant-win games usually require consumers to go online to validate and redeem their game cards. Delivery via SMS cuts lag time—consumers can play immediately—as well as fulfillment turnaround and cost. The system also gave Colgate and Loyalty Gate real-time data to track response.