Hershey looks to build buzz for the launch of its new Cookie Layer Crunch bar with a digital twist, thanks to a partnership with interactive vending machine maker Vengo orchestrated by IPG Media Lab and Universal McCann. Aiming to build social buzz and engage consumers with a fun, innovative sampling experience, the confectionery giant will place two branded Vengo interactive vending machines in Radio City Music Hall starting today, as well as one at the Hershey Chocolate World in Pennsylvania.
How It Works
This fun sampling experience begins with the Vengo machine instructing customers to take a selfie and choose from multiple branded, holiday-themed filters to make the photo more festive in real time. They will then receive a free Hershey’s Cookie Layer Crunch bar as a reward after entering their mobile number to get the selfie sent to their phone. Throughout the experience, they are encouraged to share their holiday photo on social media.
What Brands Need To Know
Our core design aims to capitalize on the selfie filter craze and bring some fun interactivity to vending machines and product sampling. The branded holiday filters will help generate organic social buzz for Hershey’s product launch as customers are incentivized to share their personalized photos on social channels.
This type of digital OOH solution offers an effective way to reach consumers in the real world as it operates as a unique digital experience at a landmark physical location and bridges the gap between mobile, social, and OOH campaigns for maximal consumer engagement.
How We Can Help
The Lab’s Hershey team is proud to have played an integral role in facilitating this partnership and working with both sides in designing, building, testing, and implementing this next-gen vending machine experience. We developed a customized operating application for these bespoke Hershey-Vengo machines, leveraging facial recognition and tracking technologies to smoothly apply the branded filters in real time.
Our proprietary real-time selfie filter application is highly customizable and applicable to other in-store digital installations. If you’re interested in learning more about this or simply want to discuss how to leverage emerging technologies to modernize your campaigns, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit.
