Pilot Overview
Back in 1995, Ship Bottom Brewery founder Rob Zarko brewed his first beer in his garage in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, and ever since, he’s been building up a loyal following. With the motto “Brewed for the Beach,” Ship Bottom Brewery has popular locations in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, and around the Philadelphia area. Zarko’s brews have grown to more than 50 innovative varieties of beer and hard cider distributed in retail grocery outlets throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
Looking to engage these loyal consumers on a new level, Ship Bottom teamed up with GS1 US® and Avery Dennison to explore how to use 2D barcodes (such as QR Codes) as an engagement tool. ADPrint+ is a partnership between Juno DTS and Avery Dennison to help bring personalization, digitalization, and direct-to-package printing to the beverage industry. Utilizing atma.io, Avery Dennison’s connected product cloud platform, their teams leverage unique product identifiers to help brands drive transparency, sustainability, and consumer engagement initiatives.
By experimenting with the innovative capabilities of the atma.io platform, this pilot program focused on exploring the consumer engagement use case for 2D barcodes containing a GS1 Digital Link. The team conceptualized a contest offering for fans of the Ship Bottom Brewery Bomb Pop and Super Bomb Pop ales, which are available only during summer months, as the perfect test to gain consumer insights on where, who, and how Ship Bottom fans consumed the new Bomb Pop flavors. The contest prize was a Tiki Bar boat ride around Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
“This was an exciting project for us,” said Jason Rambler, Director, Strategic Innovation, Avery Dennison. “Ship Bottom was looking for something innovative that they could do to engage with consumers, and this partnership let them explore the physical and digital connection to their products.”
“Using 2D barcodes with atma.io and GS1 US allowed us to really communicate with our customers,” said Zarko. “It helped us engage with them and get the data that we need to make decisions for the future."
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Using 2D barcodes with atma.io and GS1 US allowed us to really communicate with our customers. It helped us engage with them and get the data we need to make decisions for the future."
- Rob Zarko, Founder of Ship Bottom Brewery
About 2D Barcodes
The QR Code is the most recognized type of 2D barcode. It can carry data that links to information about the product’s origin, how it was made, certifications, sustainability details, promotions, ingredients, and more. It often serves as an extension of brand expression by offering an additional storytelling venue for companies of all sizes. 2D barcodes also have supply chain benefits, giving greater access to batch and lot numbers, weight, price, expiration date, and recall notices.
Recognizing the power of 2D barcodes, GS1 US is helping retail adopt 2D barcodes in preparation for Sunrise 2027—the deadline for retailers to be ready to scan 2D barcodes at the point-of-sale, effectively replacing the duties long held by the UPC-A barcode.
Many QR Codes used today are solely used for marketing purposes or to disclose ingredients. To prepare for Sunrise 2027 and to fully reap the advantages of 2D barcodes, it benefits brands of all sizes to adopt GS1 Digital Link QR Codes. The GS1 Digital Link standard extends the power and flexibility of GS1® identifiers by making them part of the web. GS1 Digital Link helps data carriers become web links, effectively connecting a product's unique identity to online sources of real-time information that brands can control.
The benefits of being an early adopter of GS1 Digital Link include:
- Greater brand trust through enhanced engagement tools and storytelling
- Efficiencies in managing inventory
- Enhanced recall readiness
- Greater insight into sustainability and ethical sourcing
- The ability to authenticate products and avoid counterfeiting
A single scan can provide access to more-robust information, whether by a consumer's smartphone or a supply chain partner or at checkout.
Pilot Findings
The Ship Bottom Brewery pilot resulted in 246 scans of the QR Code between June 8 and July 31, with 62 form entries in total. It was ultimately a successful test that connected one summertime-themed varietal with a summertime-themed consumer engagement reward in the footprint of the brewery.
Using the atma.io platform, Ship Bottom Brewery was able to access data showing the geographic location of those scanning their products and the time of day they scanned. They also added an extension of their brand by introducing a new landing page for more information. In early August, a random drawing was conducted to determine the winner of the Tiki Bar boat ride around Long Beach Island and fortuitously, a loyal Ship Bottom Brewery guest won the prize.
Ultimately, the pilot provided solid evidence of the criticality of collaboration among brand, solution partner, and retail/distribution in order to fully leverage the capabilities of GS1 Digital Link-enabled QR Codes. Together, these supply chain partners can enhance the customer experience with connected packaging and gain insights that influence a brand’s strategy for success.
“Brands of all sizes have an equal opportunity to tell their story via GS1 Digital Link QR Codes,” said Amber Walls, Senior Director of Global Standards, GS1 US. “Don’t wait until 2027 to take advantage of the opportunity to create a stronger, more loyal brand community with this technology. There are a variety of GS1 US Solution Providers who are ready, willing, and able to help with the transition to 2D barcodes.”
