The Challenge:
Twisted Oak’s tech-savvy owner, Jeff Stai, knew about the advantages of Quick Response codes. Already active in the world of social media, he also knew the QR code would be just the thing for them to connect to their consumers with “smart” mobile devices. The question was, “How to get started?”
The solution:
Scott Klann, winemaker at Twisted Oak, and Stai began with Google. They quickly found an online source that would create a QR code for them-for free-and decided to try a creative strategy:
The Shipwreck E-Commerce Approach:
True to their “twisted” name, they wrote their own lyrics to the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song, enticing consumers to scan the QR code so they could see the clever ending on the Twisted Oak e-commerce site, where they learn how to buy the wine online.
The Twisted Oak team created a mobile platform for their website, so when the QR code is scanned by a mobile device, the user is taken to a site that is easily viewed on a smaller, hand-held device. They worked with Vin65 (www.vin65.com) to create this mobile experience. "We needed a web site that was professional, modern and delivered a good time," says Stai.
To add readable QR codes on their wine labels, the Twisted Oak team reached out to Labeltronix (www.labeltronix.com), which printed the codes on the back labels with incredible success. Scott also appreciated the fact that he could benefit from Lean Labeling®, which allows the winery owner to buy only the labels he needs, at an affordable price. This winning combination helped Twisted Oak:
- Reduce their label costs and inventory
- Receive labels quickly and efficiently
- Receive exceptional customer service
“Adding the QR code is an ingenious marketing concept that puts the winery in full control of how much information consumers can access. The size of wine bottles and labels is limited ‘real estate.’ There’s only so much information a wine marketer can usually convey. But with a QR code, you can do so much more. It’s a great way to tell your wine story, do targeted promotions and have some fun with it,” explains Klann.
“The mobile site now represents almost 10% of our total web traffic. Since launching the QR code, we’ve seen an increase in web activity in just a matter of weeks. We even have mobile users voting in our contests, which means that they don’t stay on one page…they are cruising our site really getting to know the Twisted Oak brand.”
