Unilever trials NFC

Unilever, one of the UK’s largest advertisers, is one of several companies to pioneer a new form of two-way dialogue with consumers as part of a trial with JCDecaux and Kinetic which kicks off on Monday 5 March in Reading.
The month-long trial will see Unilever advertise four of its well-known brands – Lynx, Vaseline, Toni & Guy and Magnum – on a total of 325 digital six sheets located around the town centre in bus shelters and in the centrally-located shopping mall, The Oracle. All of the advertising panels, owned by JCDecaux, have been Near Field Communication (NFC) and Quick Response (QR) Code enabled by Zappit for the duration of the trial, allowing consumers to access tailored brand content on their smartphones by simply scanning a code or tapping a chip on the advertising posters.1
Once consumers have used the NFC or QR technology, they will enter Unilever’s walled-garden where they will have access to electronic coupons, competitions and bespoke information relating to the advertised product. Accessing this content will also allow Unilever to capture crude data from consumers to build a more accurate consumer profile. Extensive research will be conducted around the trial by Kinetic.
Richard Brooke, Communications Buying Manager at Unilever UK said, “Today’s marketing is increasingly about finding ways of engaging with our consumers, rather than using traditional one-way forms of advertising and promotion. This trial is a test-bed to understand the way in which we can use smartphones to open up new ways of enabling brand interaction. If the trial proves that consumers enjoy this interaction, it could shape the future of marketing. It’s an exciting time for advertising and we’re pleased to be leading the way in this exploratory trial.”
Reading, understood to be one of the UK’s most tech-savvy towns, with a high proportion of smartphones, was chosen as the location of the trial due to its broad demographic population, its well-used bus service and a thriving retail town centre populated by a mix of shoppers and consumers.