Diageo trialling beacons with Pimm’s campaign as it looks to be ‘more impactful’

Diageo told Marketing Week it is looking to become “more impactful to the customer” as it partners with London pubs to trial beacons for the first time with a sensor-activated digital OOH campaign for its Pimm’s brand.

The campaign uses beacons installed in selected pubs to measure busyness every five minutes by counting the number of smartphones in the space.

If the temperature reaches at least 16 degrees (warm enough to enjoy a Pimm’s, according to the brand), the beacons then use the information to direct people via digital outdoor posters to nearby pubs and beer gardens where there is space for them to have a drink.

Jonathan Ansell, new technology and media innovation manager for Diageo, told Marketing Week: “We’re using the trial as a means of establishing what works for consumers and customers. Our key aim was to understand how our OOH can be more impactful – how it can be used to increase football in customer outlets and deliver on some of the key marketing promises we want to push forward.”

The brand has teamed up with eight Taylor Walker pubs in London’s Victoria as well as The Metro restaurant and bar in Clapham for the campaign, which will run until early July and focus on transport networks.

The campaign will also use weather data to deliver tailored copy, changing to be more relevant to a cloudy or sunny day.

The move follows an OOH Pimm’s campaign last month that activated messaging on digital screens across London and Birmingham if the weather hit 21 degrees.

However this is the first time Diageo has used beacons in a campaign, and if the campaign proves to be a success it will “definitely see how we can take it to the next stage”, according to Ansell.

He added that the company will be mindful of what beacons mean for the consumer and ensure they are not “intrusive”.

“We won’t use technology for the sake of using technology,” he said. “It has to have benefits for the customer and the consumer. In this particular trial it benefits both.”

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