Springer Mountain Farms is using 2D bar codes to promote The National Breast Cancer Foundation on its packaged chicken products.

At the point of sale, consumers are given the option of depositing the rebate into an electronic account or donating the funds directly to The National Breast Cancer Foundation. Springer Mountain Farms tapped Inmar and Augme Mobile to enable the consumer-directed charity promotion “Scan to Save a Life.”

“The mobile device is our most important tool for direct communications with our consumers, offering important information they want, purchase rewards and more – all at the point of sale,” said Dale Faunce, marketing manager at Springer Mountain Farms, Baldwin, GA. “No other tool allows this type of communication at the time they need it, in an easy-to-use method.

“With mobile, we are not only developing ways to keep them up to date, we also give them a way to support a charitable cause by including an option to convert their purchase reward to a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation,” he said. “The whole process keeps the consumer engaged, and it’s easy on my end too.”

Springer Mountain Farms is a family-owned poultry business. The company started using 2D bar codes in February (see story). 

Augme Mobile, a division of Modavox, provides marketers, brands and advertisers the ability to target mobile consumers through traditional print channels with interactive marketing campaigns.

Inmar is a logistics company that lets trading partners collaborate with physical, financial and information flows in the supply chain.

Reaching consumers
The Scan to Save a Life promotion includes a scanable 2D bar code on each product package, and instructions for SMS entries are also included.

“Over the last 12 months, Inmar and Augme Mobile have explored creative new ways to deliver incentives to consumers without the use of paper and via the mobile phone,” said Anthony Iacovone, chief innovation officer of Augme Mobile, New York. “Rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, samples and cause marketing: Staples of U.S. Consumer brands are all part of an overall paperless mobile strategy that will span 2010 and beyond.”

Mr. Iaconvone said that the average consumer participation age is 39-years-old, and that 39 should be considered a good age when talking about a grocery consumer.

However, Mr. Iaconvone said the main goal is to have the average participation range in the mid-to upper-40s.

Reaching the target demographic can be accomplished by scaling the volume of what is normally accompanied with these types of mobile campaigns. He said that behavior is key and that consumers need to be aware that opportunities exist and that the process must be simple to follow.

Augme Mobile said that the types of proof-of-purchase that Springer Mountain Farms is doing helps ease point of sale barriers that currently exist when it comes to mobile-coupon redemption. 

Mr. Iacovone said that mobile is a good way to reach consumers because they can react on impulse and get the information they want whenever and wherever they want it.

“Mobile response allows traditional media, including packaging, to drive a deeper engagement with the consumer by providing instant access to digital content,” Mr. Iacovone said. “Although we are only at the tip of the mobile iceberg, it is a powerful response tool that can greatly enhance the prospects of making a sale in retail.”