In a pilot scheme run in May and June this year Coca-Cola teamed up with Norwegian publisher VG, utilising VG’s app to offer a free drink to consumers as they walked through the foyer of selected cinemas, the offer being triggered by beacons.
Data collected by the beacon was stored anonymously on ad platform Unacast, to allow retargeting of those that redeemed the offer with a free cinema ticket at a later date.
The numbers were impressive, 24% of app users clicked on the offer and half of those then went on to claim their free drink. When the retargeting campaign launched a week later almost 60% clicked on the advert offering them a free Cinema ticket courtesy of Coke, and half of these respondents returned to the cinema to claim their ticket.
The key to this campaign was the piggy-backing off a popular and well used app rather than creating a bespoke app for the purpose. It provided a promotional experience that allowed Coke to build a more rounded customer profile tying online to offline via beacon technology. Creating bespoke apps have been an obstacle for advertisers as they try to convince people to use them on a regular basis. Knut Anders Thorset, senior manager of digital sales and marketing at Coca-Cola Enterprises Norway, said: “This trial proves that beacons enable brands like Coke to use existing media channels in new ways. The hyper-relevance beacons provide ensures that we can amplify our role and deliver something of real value to both retailers and consumers.” And “We look forward to the results from a further roll out.”