Pernod Ricard embraces iBeacons to shape drinking experiences
Pernod Ricard is trialling proximity based marketing tool iBeacons as part of ongoing efforts to grow its brands around how people socialise with one another through technology.
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The drinks maker is working with mobile engagement and payment technology firm Zappit to pinpoint opportunities to push brands such as Absolut and Camp Viejo to people’s smartphones.
It tested iBeacons for the first time at an event in London last night (12 June), where guests were sent messages including a coupon for its Chivas Martinez cocktail. The business plans to assess how many people redeemed the coupon in the coming weeks to inform further trials.
A spokeswoman for Pernod Ricard says: “This trial is part of our company strategy ‘Shaping the Nation’s Drinking Experiences’ which includes pushing the boundaries with new innovative digital technologies. We are continually monitoring new and emerging technologies with the potential view to incorporate them into our marketing and commercial strategies.”
Pernod Ricard joins a throng of advertisers including Armani, Mondelez and Coca-Cola testing iBeacons. Experts claim the rush to be a pioneer of the new technology needs to be tempered by concerns of spamming users with too much content while they are out.
It is the latest digital play from the company, which has earmarked 20 per cent of its total advertising budget for new media, up from 15 per cent last year. Pernod Ricard has restructured over the last three years to integrate digital into all parts of the business in the hopes of moving marketing campaigns from mass-targeted to one-to-one interactions.
Upcoming efforts for brands such as Absolut, Jameson and Chivas Regal will experiment with branded social networks for advocates such as bartenders; co-creation and crowdsourced initiatives alongside farming out projects to content factories; and launching apps that allow users to organise their own social gatherings. The company is piloting a Kickstarter-style crowdfunding initiative that puts Ballantine’s global marketing innovations through a local lens to determine whether they will resonate.