An interesting two-day text-messaging campaign concluded today in Times Square, which promoted both JVC electronics and the DVD release of the Batman hit “The Dark Knight.” As part of the campaign, actors dressed as the Joker’s henchmen handed out playing cards in Times Square and drew attention to a massive JVC jumbo screen on a building, which provided instructions on how people could text to win prizes, including a JVC 52” LCD TV, JVC Everio HD Camcorders, JVC DVD Players and copies of The Dark Knight DVD. The SMS campaign also featured ads in newspapers and magazines. In all the different venues, the short code stayed the same, but each publication had a different keyword, which allows JVC to track which medium performed the best. In addition, JVC is using the campaign to develop a database of interested customers. Once a person entered to vote, they had the option to reply “MORE” for future promotions. The person received a message back, saying that they receive future info, and that they could opt-out at any time.

The campaign is being conducted by HipCricket and Aspen Marketing Services. HipCricket’s Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Hasen said the campaign is a perfect way to tell what is working or not—something that is important when you are trying to stretch your marketing dollars further in a tough environment. “In this economy when you are trying to measure what works and what doesn’t work,...we think measurement is even more important.”