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Mellow Mushroom campaign rakes in 84pc of registrations via SMS

Pizza chain Mellow Mushroom has launched a campaign that includes QR codes and SMS to spur registrations for a sweepstakes, with the initial results pointing to mobile as a primary way that consumers choose to sign up.

On July 29, Mellow Mushroom launched a sweepstakes in conjunction with Coca-Cola to give away two tickets to the upcoming American Music Awards. Additionally, the company reports that 50 percent of Web traffic now comes from mobile devices, which is playing a key role in how the brand develops social and digital campaigns.

?One of the goals of the campaign was that we wanted to have an experience with something that consumers could win,? said Annica Kreider, vice president of brand development at Mellow Mushroom, Atlanta. ?The other goal is to drive sales of Coca-Cola products.

?We?ve been watching mobile, and it?s been growing steadily to hit a tipping point this June,? she said. 

Mellow Mushroom is an upscale pizza chain that operates 154 restaurants in the United States.

Mellow Mushroom?s campaign is powered by ePrize.

Getting a piece of mobile pie
So far, 35,000 consumers have registered for the campaign, which runs through Aug. 31.

Consumers who purchase a Coca-Cola product receive a scratch card that includes a keyword that can be texted to a short code. The SMS program includes instant prizes and an option to enter the sweepstakes for tickets.

According to Mellow Mushroom and ePrize, 95 percent of all registrants thus far have entered promotional codes via SMS.

Mellow Mushroom is also using mobile bar codes on table tops to entertain consumers with campaign content.

The QR codes give consumers an option to play a game and enter the sweepstakes by scanning. According to Mellow Mushroom, more than 20 percent, or 7,313, of the campaign?s registrants have scanned the mobile bar codes.

?QR codes were hugely popular a few years ago, and I think they?re still relevant,? said Meredith Hillman, vice president at ePrize, Pleasant Ridge, MI.

?They just provide options and are a nice way to take you to a promotion ? you?re able to speak to a wider group of people,? she said.

The QR code-triggered mobile game

Growing share of mobile
Mellow Mushroom is seeing a growth in mobile from other recent campaigns, too.

For example, the brand ran a photo-sharing contest earlier this year that heavily included mobile.

The pizza chain ran a campaign with Dos Equis for Cinco de Mayo this year that encouraged consumers to take and upload an interesting picture of themselves with the beer brand?s most interesting man in the world.

Approximately 75 percent of photos were uploaded via mobile, per Ms. Kreider.

Mobile is also playing a significant role for Mellow Mushroom within Facebook promotions, with approximately two-thirds of Facebook promotion entries come from mobile.

The brand is also looking to increase the functionality of its mobile site to include features such as nutrition information.

?We?re trying to add enhancements like that to make the mobile site deliver an experience and provide tools, so that [guests] can have all the information when they are considering where they want to eat,? Ms. Kreider said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York