Beer giant Molson Coors ran a Bluetooth-based proximity-marketing coupon campaign to drive traffic into bars and encourage more people to try its Carling brand beer.

The brewer tapped Bluepod Media Worldwide Ltd. for the pilot, which featured a pub quiz application that was delivered via Bluetooth across the company's Bluepod bar network in Britain. Bar patrons were prompted to enable Bluetooth on their mobile phones to get a Coors-branded quiz for a chance to win a free pint of Carling beer.

"Pub quizzes are so big in the U.K., and Molson Coors wanted a way of driving footfall into the bars to try their beer," said Jon Fletcher, CEO of Bluepod Media Worldwide, London. "Pubs have been hit by recession -- many are closing down -- so the goal was driving people into bars at not-peak times and pique people's interest in their favorites Molson Coors beers, in this case Carling.

"Not only do you get a free beer out of it, but it's a fun thing to do as well," he said. "It's pushing the brand across to consumers, and gave people an opportunity to trial that particular type of beer."

Molson Coors Brewing Co. has 10 breweries in the U.S., Britain and Canada. The company has a portfolio of 40-plus brands, including Molson Canadian, Coors Light and Carling.

Molson Coors is one of the world's largest brewers, with net sales of more than $5.6 billion.

Bluepod Media Worldwide provides mobile marketing technology that connects brands to consumers in key locations through Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones based on their proximity to a fixed physical location.

Using short-range mobile wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, as well as interactive application using SMS, Bluepod sends rich media and content such as wallpapers, video clips, games, music clips, vouchers or links directly to consumers' mobile phones.

Proximity marketing allows brands to stand out and catch the consumer's eye at the right place and time, and measure the results, according to Bluepod Media.

The latest Molson Coors campaign was launched in five trendy, modern bars in various towns in the southwest region of Britain.

The target demographic was predominantly males ages 18-39.

After consumers received the application via Bluetooth and completed the quiz, their scores were automatically sent in via SMS.

If consumers answered a certain number of questions correctly, they received a voucher via SMS for a free pint of Carling beer.

During the three-week trial, Coors continually monitored customers' and bar managers' responses to the quiz promotion.

In the first two weeks, the brewer was pleased with customer response, as the campaign achieved a 9.4 percent redemption rate.

Pubs also saw an increase in footfall during non-peak times to redeem their vouchers, according to Bluepod Media.

Molson Coors also tapped Bluepod for a similar campaign to promote its Worthington's brand at a major rugby club's stadium.

"We've taken a look at campaign statistics and redemption rates to figure out how we could tweak the application to drive more people into the pubs, and we're considering incorporating a voucher within app that could be opened only once to be redeemed," Mr. Fletcher said. "Now it's up to Molson Coors to decide how they're going to take it to the next level, whether they want to run something major across Britain, or possibly take this to the U.S.

"Pub quizzes are not as popular in the U.S. as they are in the U.K., but could people become interested if there's free beer involved? Obviously yes," he said. "This test went really well, they were pleased, so now it's time to take it to the next level."