Brief:

• Campari America, the U.S. distributor of Skyy vodka and Wild Turkey bourbon, is distributing special refrigerator magnets that consumers can tap with a smartphone to order spirits for home delivery. The "Campari on Tap" magnets are equipped with a special near-field communication chip (NFC) that opens a product page on Drizly, the online shop for alcohol. From there, a smartphone user can order Campari brands for delivery.
• The "smart" magnets are being distributed in liquor stores in New York City. Each magnet is branded with one of six Campari products: Campari, Skyy Vodka, Wild Turkey, Aperol, Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum or Espolòn Tequila.
• Thinfilm developed the magnets for Campari. Android smartphone users can automatically read the branded magnet if NFC capabilities are enabled in their phone's settings. Consumers using an iPhone can download an NFC reader app from Apple's App Store and use it to read the magnet.

Insight:

The news shows how brands with a loyal following can leverage mobile technology to replicate some of the success that Amazon has seen with its Dash buttons, which are devices branded with popular commodity items like Ziploc and Pepperidge Farm for quick online re-orders. Since their introduction a couple of years ago, the Dash program has continued to grow in terms of use and available brands.

Campari's tappable magnets from Thinfilm leverage NFC to reach customers in their own home, where many people host parties, enjoy a drink, make grocery lists and interact with their smartphones. The interactive magnets help to directly reach consumers at home without intermediaries like search engines or social platforms that may steer people toward other products. That direct control is important for Campari to connect with its customers and provide a seamless purchasing experience on mobile.

Campari is the latest brand to use Thinfilm technology to interact with smartphone users and drive direct sales. Thinfilm chips that activate a mobile experience can be put in labels, folded cartons, hang tags, drink coasters, bottle neck-collars, coupons, magnets and direct mailers.

Oskar Blue Brewery last month used Thinfilm technology in 200,000 coasters that were distributed in bars and restaurants. The campaign resulted in 4.5x more time spent at the brewery's website than from other marketing channels, and 60% returned to the Oskar Blues website at least one additional time, Thinfilm said in a case study. The effort generated a 1.97% average click-through rate (CTR) campaign-wide and a 11.76% CTR on its best-performing box of coasters at a net cost of $1.25 per user.

Thinfilm also designed a campaign for Spanish wine brand Barbadillo that was focused on in-store shopping. The winery packaged 126,000 bottles with a paper collar embedded with Thinfilm's SpeedTap tags that integrated the label with branded mobile content. The tags spurred 10x higher traffic and 2.8x greater average time spent interacting with consumers than through its previous social media efforts alone, Thinfilm said.