Liquor marketer Tito’s Homemade Vodka is using mobile bar codes to drive donations and awareness to a fundraiser that supports musicians. 

The fundraiser, which is taking place until October 31, lets users scan QR codes on in-store promotions and magazine ads. For each code scanned, Tito’s will donate $1 to the Future of Music Coalition – the company will donate up to $10,000 

“We’ve been using QR codes since the first quarter of 2011 and see it as an instantaneous way to engage with consumers,” said Nicole Portwood, brand manager at Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Austin, TX. 

“Our company has found that QR codes are more useful than a Web URL in print marketing, which is what we are using the codes with,” she said. 

Tito’s Handmade Vodka makes corn-based, gluten-free vodka. 

Future of Music Coalition is a national research, education and advocacy organization for musicians that helps artists get the tools they need to succeed in the music industry. 

Educating via mobile
Once users click on the QR codes, they are taken to a mobile site where they can confirm the company’s donation to the Future of Music Coalition. 

“QR codes beg for user engagement and awareness, which is what this campaign was meant to accomplish,” Ms. Portwood said. 

Consumers can also sing along with a karaoke song that Tito’s created for the campaign and visit the Future of Music Coalition’s Web site. 

Additionally, users can enter the Tito’s Rocks campaign to win a spot blogging for the company at four music festivals in 2012, including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. 

“Tito’s has always been involved with music, whether it’s through sponsoring festivals or working with artists,” Ms. Portwood said. 

“We were looking for a sponsor to help with cross-promotion and started working with the Future of Music Coalition because we believe in their mission to create a music-rich culture,” she said. 

Mobile generation
The mobile campaign  centers around Tito’s  mission to give personalized content to its consumers. 

“Our Web site and materials are written in first person and our company centers itself around personalization,” Ms. Portwood said. 

“Therefore, QR codes help to take our personalized brand to an instant level of engagement with our customers” she said. 

In addition to the campaign functioning as an extended branch of the company, it also makes sense because Tito’s is based in Austin, TX, a city notorious for its music culture and festivals. 

The company has seen an increase in engagement with the codes. 

“QR codes are still relatively new to the consumer marketplace and consumers are just now recognizing them as forms of advertisement and engagement,” Ms. Portwood said. 

“We’re still gathering data on how effective our QR codes have been, but we have seen an increase in consumer engagement with them and will continue to offer them as a part of Tito’s marketing mix,” she said.