Virgin Mobile USA sweetens Sugar Mama

Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. is sweetening the deal for its young consumers who are looking to trade their spare time for airtime by adding several new names to its list of mobile advertisers looking to be Sugar Mamas.
Virgin Mobile USA’s Sugar Mama mobile advertising service allows users to opt-in and view ads through their phones or via the Web in order to earn extra minutes on their cellphone plan. The customer watches an ad and then answers several questions about what they’ve just seen in order to earn minutes. Jive Records, Levi Strauss Signature, Sony Pictures and the U.S. Navy have signed up to sweeten the offering. Sony Pictures will show movie trailers, while Jive will offer portions of music videos and the Navy will feature spots similar to its television advertising.
“What really attracted us to the Sugar Mama program is that it is truly a pull vs. a push tactic,” said Stacey Doren, director of media and online for Levi Strauss Signature. “The audience is electing to receive the message and interact with the Levi Strauss Signature brand in order to receive the bonus airtime. It provides a new and innovative way to reach our customers and provides us with the assurance that our message is being heard.”
The program originally launched with Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox and the American Legacy Foundation’s Truth anti-smoking campaign.
According to Virgin Mobile USA, the service has hosted more than 250,000 customers since it was launched, with about 1,000 new customers looking for an airtime fix each day. The company said that its users have earned more than 3 million minutes of free airtime through Sugar Mama. The mobile virtual network operator also said that it had recently enhanced its Sugar Mama platform to add more multi-media capabilities, including viral elements.