Guinness rolls out multichannel mobile pint contest in UK

Guinness' pub finder and pint rater

Irish brewer Guinness has taken its Great Guinness Pint Contest in the UK this year and the interactive mobile program is meant to engage consumers with the brand across the country. The program asks consumers at participating businesses to rate their pint of Guinness via their mobile phone. Each time consumers rate their pint they are entered into a sweepstakes in which the winner gets a home pub. "Guinness is really big on quality," said John Lim, CEO of Mobile Card Cast, Tarrytown, NY. "The program uses mobile because it is the only channel where consumers can give ratings and opinions in real time.

“No one is going to have a beer at 4 p.m. and then remember to go to their computer later on to rate it,” he said. “Mobile makes it more immediate.” This year’s program, powered by Mobile Card Cast, is a bit different because there is a WAP microsite, where consumers can search for the highest rated pint of Guinness in their area. Additionally, consumers can text CHEERS to 81759 to get the Guinness Pub Finder, an application that allows users to discover pubs near them. The application uses GPS location to pinpoint the user's location and send local pub details which can be used to create a favorites list. The top performing bars or restaurants serving Guinness this time around will receive a celebration party. Live drawings will be held on the television sets in each of the participating establishments for the home pub prize.