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When products or brands are trying to build market presence they often look for innovative ways to get consumers to try them. Shows like American Idol which attract large numbers of viewers every week provide the perfect platform for this type of marketing.

Services like SMS have been around for over a decade, and while popular Europe, Asia, and Japan, have never caught on in the United States. When AT&T (who was later taken over by Cingular) became a sponsor of the program they took the opportunity to promote SMS through text message voting. Each week between 20 and 30 million viewers were encouraged to send their votes using SMS. The plan worked for 2005 the number of SMS messages grew steadily and in 2005 over 41 million SMS votes were cast. As consumers became comfortable with the SMS AT&T hoped they would make it part of their everyday life in 2005 the total number of SMS messages sent in the United States grew by over 40%.

American Idol is one of the highest rated shows on television pulling in 20 to 30 million viewers per week. For advertisers who want to reach a wide range of consumers this is desirable advertising vehicle, as it consistently scores in the top 10 for the 18-49 year old demographic. All of this exposure however comes at a hefty price. In 2005 a 30 second advertising spot cost over $700,000. The only show that can command a higher price tag is the Super Bowl.

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