This week we heard the news that Guinness is going to embrace Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in a bid to engage consumers at the bar.
The Diageo owned stout is inviting people to unlock the “magic behind the gates” by incorporating NFC technology into all Guinness founts in the UK and Ireland.
The idea is that patrons can tap their phone against the iconic image of the harp on the front of the founts to see if they have won a free pint.
It is a great use of NFC and one that we haven’t seen before. The brand hopes that by creating a digital touchpoint for consumers at the point of purchase will allow them to engage with people at just the right moment. Its canny thinking and Diageo certainly isn’t doing it by half with plans to install 53,000 NFC Guinness founts into pubs and bars by 2015.
We are sure that Guinness has more tricks up its sleeve than just using this to distribute an occasional free pint, but as a starting point is a great one! We’re looking forward to seeing what else could be done with the NFC enabled founts.