Wine and spirits giant Diageo is actively involved in the mobile space because the medium allows the brand to get closer to the point of purchase and help consumers make decisions at the right moments.

The company has taken the content of its well-known thebar.com Web site to mobile to help adult consumers with their party planning. With 83 percent of adult consumers conducting party planning research before they even leave home, the new application is meant to help consumers become master mixologists and the ultimate party planners. The application was created by Phonevalley.

?Thebar.com has high engagement with heavy penetration among our core consumers.  Making the features and content of our site mobile allows consumers to get timely information when they need it - whether they are planning a party, ordering at a bar, or even deciding the best way to restock their bar at home,? said Kristin L. Ganong, vice president of digital strategy and relationship marketing at Diageo.
  
?After launching our mobile WAP site last year we saw that over 50 percent of our traffic was coming from the iPhone platform,? she said. ?In effect consumers told us they wanted an iPhone app, making it an obvious decision for us.?

The application is compatible with all iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices in the US.
 
App functions
Phone users of legal drinking age can use the application to easily find out where to purchase their favorite spirits, beer and wine brands in local bars and liquor stores. 

Like thebar.com, the application boasts an extensive catalog of cocktail recipes supported by the breadth of the Diageo portfolio: Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, Guinness Draught, Johnnie Walker blended Scotch whisky, Jose Cuervo tequila, Smirnoff vodka, and Sterling Vineyards wine. 

A quick shake of the application's cocktail shaker will give users a unique cocktail recipe to try.

?Adult consumers have made the Internet the No. 1 source for research and information gathering for purchase decisions, and this continues to grow in the mobile space,? Ms. Ganong said.

?Mobile enables us to effectively communicate with consumers where they spend their lives in real time,? she said. ?Our consumers are looking for information when they are shopping in-store or ordering a drink when they're out.

?We need to be able to deliver the information when and where they want it.?

Anywhere drink recipes
Users of the application are able to search nearby stores for everything they need to bartend their party. The application includes hundreds of cocktail recipes with detailed instructions and pictures.

Additionally, the application offers great offers for iconic brands, including Smirnoff, Guinness, Jose Cuervo, Bailey's, Crown Royal, Captain Morgan and Johnnie Walker.

Consumers can also use the application to mix up their social scene by finding new local sports bars, night clubs and restaurants.

The drink search function is searchable by ingredient, keyword and brand.

A social feature allows users to share drink recipes with friends through Facebook and email. Users can also save favorite drinks to their thebar.com profile to access at any time.

?Great consumer insights are a major business driver for Diageo,? Ms. Ganong said. ?Mobile marketing now offers new and innovative ways to leverage those insights, giving us the ability to create authentic and relevant connection
moments with consumers.

?Mobile allows us to get closer to the point of purchase and allows us to help consumers make decisions at the right moments? she said. ?We are speaking with them, not talking at them, by identifying where consumers are and how they prefer to receive our messages while not being interrupted. 

?Thebar.com app is the perfect example of this."