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MillerCoors uses QR codes in bars to promote safe driving during the holidays

MillerCoors is partnering with restaurants and bars in Seattle to promote safe driving during the holidays with QR codes enabling patrons to quickly and easily call a taxi.

The Seattle effort is part of a larger holiday program to help prevent drunk driving and encourage consumers to plan ahead for safe celebrations that includes a variety of programs and partnerships across the country. The Click-It-2-Ride program will feature special QR code point-of-sale signs that can be scanned with a smartphone to provide the user with the ability to speed dial a taxi and view responsible drinking information.

?This is an excellent way for Coors to expand "Please drink responsibly" and connect with their brand users,? said Mike McGuinness, vice president of sales at QRblaster.com, Santa Rosa Beach, FL.

?A responsible vendor, in this case the bar, should do everything they can to keep people from getting in their car, especially at holiday time,? he said.

Mr. McGuinness is not affiliated with MillerCoors and spoke based on his experience with mobile marketing.

Increasing brand awareness
The Click-It-2-Ride program is being held in partnership with CBS Radio and Coors Light.

MillerCoors is sponsoring a series of other programs to promote the use of designated drivers and planning ahead for alternative transportation, including being the exclusive sponsor of 1-800-TAXICAB, a national taxi dispatch service. Consumers can call the number and automatically be connected to a local-area taxi company.

Consumers with iPhones can also use the free Miller Lite Taxi Finder app. Other smartphone owners can go to MLTaxifinder.com or CLtaxifinder.com to get one-touch dialing for a nearby taxi.

The One Million Strong effort asks consumers to "Take the pledge" at GreatBeerGreatResponsibility.com to prevent drunk driving and help MillerCoors' effort to reach one million pledges each year. Legal-aged consumers can also share their plan to celebrate the holidays responsibly and be entered to win one of four gift cards valued at $500 to put towards their plan.

More brands are beginning to test QR codes purposes other than simply delivering content, according to QRblaster.com.

?In the long term, this should be the goal of every QR code, a call to action, redeemable offers, incentives, versus a direct ?Home Page.?? Mr. McGuinness said.

?Even a link to a video advertisement that?s already running online or on TV can increase brand and product awareness,? he said. ?This is a very smart move for 2012.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York