Thin Film Electronics (Thinfilm) announced that they have kicked off a collaboration with Coronado Brewing Co. by distributing innovative coasters that engaged the craft brewer's consumers with the simple tap of a smartphone.
The coasters were part of a product launch for a new beer, CoastWise Session IPA, and drove website conversions 17.5 times more than the craft brewer's other marketing channels.
Competition with both macro and craft beer brands prompted Coronado Brewing Co. to seek a more experiential marketing solution to differentiate itself in a sea of new SKUs, grab beer drinkers' attention, and get those consumers engaged with the brand. Coronado Brewing Co. chose Thinfilm for its label/packaging integration services, cloud-based management, analytics, and ease of implementation.
Thinfilm embeds NFC technology in packaging, labels, and merchandise product tags within a range of consumer-focused verticals, from wine, spirits and craft beer to cosmetics and clothing. Consumers tap the products with their smartphones and then see a customised landing page, video or other digital asset provided by the brand. The brand can view the consumer's performance data in real-time, accessible through a single system.
Coronado Brewing Co. plans to have its remaining coasters direct consumers to its e-commerce page. The company is also considering using Thinfilm technology for additional point-of-sale opportunities.
The 'smart' coasters, which were distributed at Coronado Brewing Co. locations exclusively, featured Thinfilm SpeedTap tags. The unique NFC technology allowed consumers to tap the coasters with their phones and see a customised landing page describing the new CoastWise Session IPA.
By deploying the coasters, Coronado Brewing Co. saw a significant increase in consumer engagement, particularly compared to click-through rates of 0.2% for its existing advertising. In fact, the coasters produced a 13 - 17.5X increase in website conversions, as measured by visits to the website resulting from consumer-initiated taps. Overall, Thinfilm has driven an estimated 92% lift in mobile traffic to the CoastWise landing page.
Brandon Richards, COO, Coronado Brewing Co, said, "Competing for the attention of craft beer drinkers is intense." Brandon added, "Getting people to hear your brand story without interference is even harder.” "The Thinfilm team made everything a snap," Richards said. "And our customers really enjoyed the interactive experience."
Davor Sutija, Thinfilm CEO, said, "Any physical product can be turned into a channel at any point in time." Davor added, "Thinfilm's integrated mobile marketing solution empowers brands to own and manage the communication no matter where the consumer is, whether in the store, at the bar, or in the home."
Davor continued, "Thinfilm looks forward to bringing continued innovative customer experiences to Coronado Brewing Co." Davor concluded saying, "We're committed to helping them stand out in a crowded market and giving them unique data sets to better understand and connect with the unpredictable craft beer customer."