Small Company Figures Out QR Codes, and Sells Beer

Courtesy of 50 Back Brewing.Paige Haley (left) and Kimberly Rogers, founders of 50 Back Brewing

ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Generating revenue along with the buzz.

About a year ago, Kimberly Rogers first read about QR codes or Quick Response Codes on a marketing blog. “I thought, this looks neat,” she said. “We should get one.”

Ms. Rogers, who founded 50 Back Brewing Company in 2010 along with Paige Haley, was attracted by the techie feel of QR codes and thought they might appeal to a younger crowd. She tried a Google search of QR code generator and found a Web site where she plugged in information about her company and was given a free code specific to 50 Back Brewing. Ms. Rogers said she downloaded the code to her desktop, and that was where it stayed for months. “It was like, ‘O.K., I have no idea what to do with this,” she said.

Occasionally, the QR code would come up in marketing meetings, where ideas such as putting it on T-shirts or hats would be kicked around. But nothing ever happened.

The main ways 50 Back promotes its business is by hosting celebrations for active duty soldiers and veterans on military bases. The company usesFacebook and Twitter to reach out to groups that support veterans and military families. “We also attend as many veterans functions as possible and donate product for fundraisers throughout the year to honor our nation’s heroes,” Ms. Haley said. The company was incorporated in Boston on Veterans Day 2009.

For every purchase of 50 Back American Lager, which they have dubbed “The Brew of the Brave,” the owners donate a percentage of the profits to charities committed to supporting veterans and active duty-service members and their families. “We started by wanting to say thank you to our own family members, friends, neighbors and all of those who have served,” Ms. Rogers said.

The idea of using the QR code campaign resurfaced when Ms. Rogers and Ms. Haley decided they wanted to find a way for people to do something for soldiers — even if they weren’t buying a beer for themselves. They brainstormed an idea to create a QR Code campaign that would allow people to buy a beer for a soldier. In March, hoping to generate buzz about the brand and promote its mission of supporting the troops, 50 Back Brewing introduced its Buy a Soldier a Beer program.

The program encourages smartphone users to scan the two-dimensional, black-and-white code that it places on all of their promotional materials — flyers, coasters, packaging, stickers, posters, point-of-sale displays — to reach their landing page. There, visitors are given three options: post a message on the 50 Back Facebook page, post a message on Twitter, or buy a soldier a beer.

All QR Code purchases are handled through Text2Pay. The visitor’s cellphone account is charged $1.99 — Text2Pay takes $.99 of every purchase as a processing fee — and the person has bought a soldier a beer. More than 75,000 people have scanned the QR code since March, and the company has given away more than 7,400 beers — all delivered to various military bases in the Boston area.

Still, the campaign is not really a revenue driver. “We did it to create brand awareness as much as anything,” Ms. Haley said.

“Our product orders did go up,” Ms. Rogers said, “our social media comments on Facebook and Twitter increased tenfold, which did trickle down to retail orders, but it’s hard to say just how many.”

The beer is currently available in more than 150 restaurants and retail outlets in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maine and Texas, with plans for expansion throughout New England. The owners have been able to track their campaign statistics through qrcode.kaywa.com. “We’re a very small company,” Rogers admits. “We’ve had to learn everything by jumping in and trying things out.”

The overall goal is for 50 Back to establish a solid marketing model that will appeal to potential investors and lead to 50 Back becoming available nationwide.

Melinda Emerson is founder and chief executive of Quintessence Multimedia, a social media strategy and content development firm. You can follow her on Twitter.

PEPPERELL — Small business service provider Deluxe Corp. has selected 50 Back Brewing Company for Project REV 2012.

REV is a nationwide program that gives 10 small businesses access to Deluxe’s services for a year and $15,000 worth of marketing product. After Deluxe called, notifying 50 Back they had been selected from a group of more than 1,200 applicants, co-founder Kimberly Rogers said it was amazing and that REV has been an exciting experience every step of the way.

50 Back was born on Memorial Day 2010 after Rogers and founding partner Paige Haley decided on a way to support combat veterans: beer. Rogers’ father was an Army veteran and police officer and Haley had relatives and close friends who served. According to Haley, both of them liked to brew beer and decided to start a brewing company that donates half of the proceeds from sales to veteran’s charities.

They spent that Memorial Day weekend delivering their first shipment of 50 Back American lager to local stores in Pepperell, Westford, Acton, Ayer and Groton. Up to now, social media and50back.comhave been their largest marketing fronts, but they also utilize a public relations company that has gained them attention on local and regional media outlets.

Currently, 50 Back is carried by about 150 retailers across Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas and Maine.

“Our product is out there, although somewhat sporadically,” Rogers said. “I think the concentration of military bases in other states creates the demand.”

There is an extensive demand for 50 Back lager. Rogers says that she receives daily e-mails from stores in states including Virginia, California and Arizona, but the company currently lacks the resources to begin operations so far-flung. Because of the company’s size, Rogers says Deluxe recommends they concentrate locally first.

“We are going to build up a base here and then expand out while supporting the states we are already in,” she said. “Once we get the word out in Mass, we want to duplicate that nationwide.”

Playing off their online presence, 50 Back will also be introducing a quick response (QR) code on coasters and other promotional material. Using a smartphone, customers will be able to scan the QR code and access a soldier appreciation app. According to Rogers, the app will allow users to post a personal message of appreciation to a servicemen and ‘buy them a beer.’

“Each check-in will register with us and when we have accumulated a significant number of purchases, we will deliver beer to troops,” she said.

Marketing of this sort is focused on the actual customers, Rogers said, rather than social media or retailer-based strategies. To bolster this, Deluxe will also be providing 50 Back with t-shirts, coasters, bottle openers and other promotional materials. 50 Back will be receiving web data like search engine tracking and site traffic analysis too, as well as a monthly e-newsletter that subscribers can get through e-mail.

Alongside those, Deluxe is also extending invitations to workshops and seminars about business plans, web site design, logos and other marketing topics. Last December, Rogers and Haley attended the Project Rev kick-off in Kansas City where they met other Project REV participants. They include a Marlboro-based landscaping company called Gardens Are, Inc., a security services provider from Maryland, a running and walking specialty store in St. Louis, a Denver-based sausage company, gourmet sauce chefs, a metalworker, an engineering consultant and more.

Come march, they will be going to a seminar in New York City for Martha Stewart’s small business group Dreamers into Doers. Stewart will be the keynote speaker and Rogers says they will be exploring the various aspects of her show, magazine and other operations. Locally, 50 Back is getting assistance from the Concord SCORE Chapter, a national nonprofit dedicated to educating business owners and helping small businesses start, grow and succeed. Rogers said the group has a certified CPA and a former CEO.

Project REV has shown results, too, according to Deluxe Vice President of Brand and Media Relations Laura Radewald. She said last year’s participants collectively doubled their sales, despite the economy.

“Deluxe selected 50 Back Brewing Company as a 2012 program participant because it is typical of so many businesses across America that have a fabulous product, but don’t have the marketing expertise to ensure its success,” Radewald said. “We are excited to help them grow, and are inspired by their mission of giving back to our troops.”

She added that growth of small businesses like 50 Back Brewing Company is critical to an economic recovery, and by exploring Deluxe’s offerings can help expand customer base and increase sales.

“We couldn’t believe we were selected for this, what Deluxe is giving us is so valuable,” Rogers said. “It’s going to help us in our marketing three four, five, ten fold, and show us what works.”

As for other expansion ideas, Rogers says their flagship American lager is a “middle beer,” and gives them flexibility in expanding their product. She says 50 Back could introduce a darker or lighter beer in the future. The five charities they support are the USO, Homes for Our Troops, The Ahern Family Charitable Foundation, Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund and America’s VetDogs — Veteran’s K-9 Corps.

“We want to be making a significant impact on these charities, so we are not taking on new charities right now,” Rogers said. “We’ve been able to develop close relationships with our current charities.”

Like the proceeds they donate, Rogers said at events they spend fifty percent of their time talking about those charities.