Soft pretzel chain Auntie Anne?s is running point-of-sale-based mobile promotions to enhance brand engagement, as well as increase consumer purchase frequency.

The company is working with Sparkfly on the mobile initiative. Auntie Anne?s is using Sparkfly?s mobile platform to increase user engagement and purchases.

?Sparkfly's business strategy is to enable the capability for retailers to track all digital promotions ? both online and mobile ? in an easy and uniformed way, giving them transactional data on the return on investment of their campaigns, by source; mobile advertising, foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, their own email and loyalty promotions,? said Catherine Tabor, founder/CEO of Sparkfly. 

?Our proof points for the Auntie Anne's pilot are around ease of implementation, customer usage, item-level tracking and driving repeat purchase ? frequency and loyalty,? she said.

Auntie Anne?s pretzels are available in a variety of flavors including Original, Cinnamon Sugar, Almond, Garlic, Pepperoni, and Sour Cream and Onion. Pretzel Stix and Nuggets offer a more portable option for pretzel lovers on the go, and the Pretzel Dog is a popular lunch item.

Sparkfly is a provider of services that capture consumer purchase data and provide immediately redeemable consumer offers.

Pretzel quest
Ten Auntie Anne?s franchise locations in metro Atlanta will participate in the pilot that offers visitors a Pretzel Quest.

The Pretzel Quest consists of a series of frequency offers presented on Sparkfly?s mobile application.

For example, the first offer invites visitors to buy a signature pretzel and get another one free.

Consumers can redeem the offers at the point-of-sale via a unique code generated by the application.

After three visits, consumers are rewarded with a free pretzel and 21 oz. Coca-Cola fountain beverage.

?Mobile has enabled the ultimate bridge between online and digital promotions and actual in-store purchases,? Ms. Tabor said. 

?Through the generation and redemption of a dynamically generated code, the retailer can now tie a promotion back to a consumer, location and publisher and offer additional promotions to that consumer that are more relevant and timely,? she said.

Word of mouth
To get the word out about the Auntie Anne's program, Sparkfly is using social media such as Facebook and Twitter, messaging, direct email to loyalty program members and in-store signage. 

?Mobile is the critical link between the online and digital promotion and in-store redemption,? Ms. Tabor said.

?Having the ability to generate a dynamic code that is tied to the consumer, offer, promotion channel and location is extremely powerful in both tracking ROI for the retailer and delivering relevant and meaningful offers to the consumer,? she said.

?It is a win/win.?

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York