Digital vending machines seems to be the latest experiential craze and Douwe Egberts (DE) are getting some great results with their ‘yawn’ campaign in South Africa. So how did it work? An unassuming DE branded coffee vending machine was installed at O.R Tambo airport in Johannesburg (where else do people most need a coffee?). The twist is that the machine was programmed to only dispense a coffee when facial recognition software recognized any consumers who yawned in front of it.
What’s great about this campaign is the authentic reactions of participants who unknowingly unlocked their free coffees from the machine. And it’s these reactions captured on video that created a viral phenomenon. Even though only 210 coffees were dispensed, the content created as a result of this campaign was well worth the investment with over 360,000 views on YouTube so far.
From a Word of Mouth (WOM) perspective it’s also easy to see the benefits. Who wouldn’t talk about an experience like this to anyone who would listen? Interestingly though it’s only the activations that provide a genuine, credible & real experience that seem to be achieving the viral love. A similar recent Pepsi campaign in Belgium fell a little short of the mark (only 95,000 YouTube views) by asking consumers to ‘like’ them on Facebook to score a free Pepsi. Clearly when people see and feel a forced situation is at play they are less enamored and much less likely to share and pass on.
Watch the video:
