The initiative is part of Hooters’ goal to incentivize consumers to play hooky with the company via these special deals for March Madness. Sports buffs are invited to visit http://www.hootershooky.com each week to download coupons for featured specials.

“Hooters delivers the perfect excuse to play hooky and take in the tourney action each week,” said Dave Henninger, chief marketing officer of Hooters of America, Atlanta.

Key specials
The Hooters Hooky basketball coupons include a free order of fried pickles from March 14-15, a free order of equal or lesser value when consumers buy an order of Buffalo Shrimp during March 21-22 and 10 free wings when consumers buy 10 from March 28-29.

Consumers can download coupons to their mobile phones and show them in-store to redeem.

Moreover, consumers are invited to share their March Madness tournament moments at Hooters by posting photos via Twitter and Instagram using the hastag #StepIntoAwesome.

Past campaigns
Hooters is no stranger to mobile and has been continuously turning to the medium to drive consumer engagement.

In 2011, Hooters proved that it was a force to reckon with in the mobile space via a campaign that used mobile bar codes and social media to further drive brand awareness (see story).

The restaurant also built up its mobile database with an SMS campaign that offered consumers a chance to win a trip to the destination of their choice (see story).

Most recently, Hooters made SMS a focal point of its overall strategy and significantly built up its mobile database – by 50,000 consumers – through a Super Bowl initiative the company recently ran (see story).

“Download the hooky coupons and bring your coworkers, friends and family members along to enjoy a break at Hooters and watch as the battle of the brackets unfolds,” Mr. Henninger said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York