Today social media channels/technologies have transformed significantly the way companies collaborate, innovate and provide solutions – solutions encompassing employees, prospects, partners, customers and products. Through social networking, engineers are able to explore design solutions at a grass-root level wherein the results can bring a better product to market faster.
The concept of exchanging gift for online sharing in real world seems to be an ideal tool for brands to build strong emotional connect with the consumers.
“What if your foursquare check-ins and twitter shares gave you more than a sense of accomplishment? What if they could get you free stuff?”
That is the concept behind the `Nokia Gift Machine`– a special vending machine.
Nokia has very successfully tried to bridge the gap between online and offline marketing with an innovative marketing concept – the `Nokia Gift Machine` at the Nokia store in the Mall of the Emirates.
Created by UK based global creative social agency 1000heads, the `Nokia Gift Machine` dispenses random acts of kindness – free gifts including cinema tickets, sweets, chocolates, accessories and even Nokia devices, to people checking-in through any mobile device on foursquare – the popular location-based social networking app or even through Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile technology.
Anyone with a smart mobile device can visit the Nokia Gift Machine, open foursquare and find its location, check-in and share via Twitter and Facebook using the #NokiaGifts hashtag, then collect their prize. A gift then drops out of the bottom of the machine. Alternatively users can also check-in using NFC mobile technology.
According to James Whatley, Design of 1000heads, when they were asked the question `how to make the simple things around you more special`, their answer was to create one of the world’s first Foursquare-enabled vending machines.
Unlike most machinery, the instruction manual is quite simple:
- Open Foursquare on your phone
- Find the Nokia Gift Machine @ SMW
- Check-in using the #NokiaConnects hashtag
- Share to Twitter
- Collect your prize
“Nokia came to us with a specific challenge – to inspire people with a new and innovative way to blend social media and the real world,” said Mike Rowe, CEO of 1000heads. “The ‘Nokia Gift Machine’ does just that, dispensing gifts to anyone checking-in to its location or activating it using NFC, while sharing this action with through their own online communities.”
“The Nokia Gift Machine is testament to our efforts to creatively link the online elements of social media along with offline tactics. The machine has already proven hugely popular with trade audiences, and we are confident consumers will feel the same way,” said Tamer Elliethy, Digital Marketing Manager, Lower Gulf, Nokia.
Lesson for others
Create a strong emotional connect with the customer through out-of-the-box ideas to bridge the gap between online and offline marketing. Innovative products help to build strong social brand equity of oneself among customers. Evolve path breaking ways to optimize customer experience to build more brand loyalty.
Nokia Gift Machine- A unique marketing concept by Nokia
Brilliant Example of Linking Social Media
Submitted by : Jayarani Jayaraman, SMBP Student, University of Waterloo
To contact the author of this entry please email: jayji9@yahoo.com
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