Diageo and Thinfilm unveil the connected ‘Smart Bottle‘

 

Diageo plc, a world leader in beverage alcohol based in London, UK, and Thin Film Electronics ASA, which is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, a leading developer of printed electronics and smart systems, will look to completely change the role of a bottle in the consumer experience. The two companies will soon unveil a prototype Johnnie Walker BLUE LABEL ‘smart bottle’.

The connected ‘smart bottle’ aims to enhance the consumer experience by using printed sensor tags featuring Thinfilm’s OpenSense technology, which can detect both the sealed and opened state of each bottle. The tags and the sensor information they contain will allow Diageo to send personalised communications to consumers who read the tags with their smartphones.

The innovation is reported to make it possible to send consumers targeted and timely marketing messages, whether at retail or after purchase, such as promotional offers, cocktail recipes and exclusive content. Thinfilm’s OpenSense technology makes use of smartphones’ Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities. The technology allows Diageo to track bottle movements across the supply chain, in-store and to the point of consumption, with the sensor tags remaining readable even when the factory seal has been broken, providing an additional layer of security in protecting the authenticity of the product.

Unlike conventional static QR codes that are often difficult to read, easy to copy, and do not support sensor integration, OpenSense tags can dynamically detect if a bottle is sealed or open with the simple tap of an NFC smartphone. To ensure authenticity, the tags are also completely and permanently encoded at the point of manufacture and cannot be copied or electrically modified. Helen Michels, global innovation director, Futures Team at Diageo, says: “Mobile technology is changing the way we live, and as a consumer brands company we want to embrace its power to deliver amazing new consumer experiences in the future.”