Conde Nast?s Allure magazine is using Microsoft Tags again after the success of last year?s program, which generated 444,572 scans.

The publication is using the mobile bar codes throughout its August issue. Consumers can download the Microsoft Tag app to participate.

?Tags work when they are a tool and not a gimmick,? said Marie Jones, general manager of digital media at Allure, New York. ?By incorporating tags into our big August Free Stuff issue, we are enabling readers to enter and engage with the brand from anywhere. 

?They can scan for SMS reminders that come 15 minutes before a giveaway and tear the universal tag from the magazine and enter on the run,? she said. 

A product a day
Allure is giving away 25,403 products during the month of August.

The publication is giving away skin products, fragrances, shoes and bags.

In addition to downloading the Microsoft Tag app, readers can log on to allure.com/go/free-stuff for a chance to win.

Consumers can scan the master tag on page 133 of the August issue.

?There are 31 tags in the August issue making it hard not to miss,? Ms. Jones said. ?And after the success of last year?s tag program in August we began incorporating tag in our regular monthly Free Stuff give away so we went into this August with about 25,000 registrants."

Past endeavors
Last year, Allure magazine gave away more than $725,000 worth of beauty products to smartphone users who scanned a Microsoft Tag within its August issue.

The publication incorporated Microsoft?s 2D Tags in a multichannel contest that used print, mobile Web and SMS technology. There were a total of 36 Tags in the Free Stuff issue (see story).

Additionally, Allure?s use of Microsoft Tags as an entry point into the magazine?s annual ?Free Stuff? giveaways resulted in 444,572 scans, making it the largest mobile bar code campaign to-date.

It was the largest Microsoft Tag campaign to date and a significant increase in scans compared to JagTag?s 100,000 scans during a Sports Illustrated campaign earlier this year, per Microsoft (see story).

Recently, the publication offered its readers a chance to win free stuff by scanning a Microsoft Tag on the publication?s Web site.

Allure let readers have a chance to win $928 worth of Lancôme Génifique products. Allure is featuring Microsoft Tags on its Web site and magazine (see story).

?Mobile is now another distribution channel for Allure?s content and content is our business,? Ms.  Jones said. ?They key is knowing what kind of content works for which distribution device or distribution channel.? 

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York