SEATTLE—Starbucks Coffee Co. is the latest mega-brand to go mobile, launching a scavenger-hunt promotional campaign for wireless users.
The coffee giant launched a Web site, starbuckssummer.com, that allows customers to send a message to a short code and receive three weekly clues on their phones via text messages. Users are asked to submit a text message or a photo to “solve” the clue.
The company claims the campaign is the first mobile game incorporating visual recognition technology, which determines whether submitted images represent the correct answer to each question.
Five successful contestants will by chosen to compete in a real-time game in New York City, with the winner receiving a trip to Costa Rica. The five-week contest launched last week.
“Starbucks is thrilled to be the first company to integrate this kind of continuous, interactive gameplay,” said Brad Stevens, Starbucks’ vice president of marketing for retail North America.
