Fast food chain Del Taco is integrating mobile bar codes on its products to promote the film Real Steal and give consumers the chance to win prizes.

Del Taco recently wrapped up a campaign that used Microsoft Tags on cups that gave away $50,000 worth of prizes. To promote the campaign, Del Taco used in-store signage, Web and social media to promote the campaign.

?The primary strategy is to enhance the customer experience by integrating a new technology that connects customers with online content,? said Noah Chillingworth, director of marketing at Del Taco, Lake Forest, CA.

?What excites us most about Microsoft Tag is it not only allows us to connect with our customers but the back-end analytics offer us insights into the effectiveness of our programs and the way our customers use our brand,? he said.

Del Taco is a Mexican fast food restaurant that operates 525 locations in 17 states.

Sip to win
Del Taco used Microsoft Tags on four 44-ounce themed cups.

Each cup featured a code that users could enter to win prizes by scanning a mobile bar code on the product.

Additionally, an in-store figurine from the movie was placed in each Del Taco location and had a Microsoft  Tag that consumers could scan and interact with.

In total, 1.6 million codes were used on Real Steel-themed cups.

Consumers who scanned the Microsoft Tags were taken to a mobile-optimized site where they could learn more about the film and view exclusive videos. They could also download Real Steel-themed wallpaper from the sites.

Here are the cups the Microsoft Tags were featured on

Users could then enter a code on the cups to win prizes including a $100 Del Taco gift card, movie tickets and X Box 360 consoles.

The Real Steel promotion ended Oct. 11.

This is the third time that Del Taco has used Microsoft Tags in conjunction with a promotion.

The restaurant also used the tags this summer to give consumers free game rentals and music downloads.

?The Real Steel film was particularly interesting due to its anticipated appeal to our heavy frequency customer base,? Mr. Chillingworth said.

Munch on mobile
Del Taco is not the only brand using Microsoft Tags.

Most recently, Coca-Cola and HMSHost teamed up for an initiative to help hunger relief (see story).

Mobile bar codes are a good fit for fast food companies such as Del Taco because they give consumers quick access to additional information and content.

Microsoft Tags are also effective for promoting films because the campaigns are short-run and can spread the word quickly about upcoming events.

?The sweepstakes was created to not only provide customers with exciting prizes but also a compelling incentive to scan the tag and see the specially-created content,? Mr. Chillingworth said.

?Our target for this campaign was our highest frequency customer, which typically means males who are also fans of action films and science fiction,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York