In a significant new mobile marketing push, Budweiser has launched a campaign that enables customers to trace the origins of their beer by scanning a QR code on its packaging.

The ?Track Your Bud? digital campaign includes a free mobile app in addition to the 2D bar codes appearing on bottles to provide visibility into the Budweiser brewing process. The goal is to address the interest in quality and ingredients that many beer drinkers display.

?What makes this interesting is that people are now carrying around computers in their hands and have the ability to be in a bar and do this live in their hand,? said Rob McCarthy, vice president at Budweiser, St. Louis, MO.

?The mobile aspect makes it that much more interesting, current and live for people,? he said. ?You do not have to figure out how to get your beer bottle home and get it in front of a computer.

?This is our biggest effort so far as being something that is focused on the unique advantage of mobile and being able to carry it around in your hand. We hope to learn a lot and continue to grow.?

Social integration
The campaign will highlight that while Budweiser may be a national brand it is also a local beer that is produced by individual brewmasters at 12 breweries across the United States.

Users will see videos and content related to the specific brewery and brewmaster that produced the beer in their hands.

"We are celebrating that we have 12 breweries and 12 brewmasters, who are truly responsible for every beer that goes out the door,? Mr. McCarthy said. ?Because we have 12 breweries, we are able to get to every corner of the U.S. as efficiently as possible to insure that the beer is fresh.?

The Track Your Bud platform also integrates with Facebook to connect beer drinkers across the country with each other through the Budweiser they hold in their hand.

Users will be able to access video content, collect badges from each U.S. brewery and name batches of beer if they are the first to track a beer from a particular batch.

Keeping it fresh
Users can scan the QR code on a bottle of Budweiser and enter the Born On Date also found on bottles to be taken on a guided tour of the creation of their individual beer by the brewmaster responsible for it.

Budweiser will look to continue to tweak the app to keep it fresh and encourage users to keep coming back. For example, the company will consider features such as telling users that a friend has checked in at their batch.

Budweiser will move slowly to promote the new program and is looking at putting messaging on bar coasters about the Track Your Bud campaign.

?We will not limit ourselves to traditional advertising to get the word out on this,? Mr. McCarthy said.

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