The Results Are In: NFC Packaging Boosts Sales for Barbadillo

Earlier this summer, NFC tag manufacturer Thinfilm and Barbadillo, one of the top wine producers in Spain, took an unprecedented leap into smart packaging. In case you missed packagePRINTING’s August coverage of this initiative, Barbadillo incorporated approximately 126,000 of Thinfilm’s NFC SpeedTap tags into bottles of its Castillo de San Diego white wine. It was believed to be the largest-ever deployment of NFC technology in the wine and spirits market.

Now that the summertime initiative has reached its end, Thinfilm and Barbadillo have released a case study on the experience, detailing the results. According to the case study, the program was a success across the board, increasing Barbadillo’s sales and allowing the company to receive valuable consumer insight.

The smart packaging initiative was part of a summer-long campaign called Dando en el Blanco, which also incorporated television, online and outdoor advertising. With the NFC aspect of the initiative, consumers could tap their smartphones against a bottle with one of the SpeedTap tags, and be taken to a mobile site with more information about Dando en el Blanco and an opportunity to win €1,000.

According to a press release from Thinfilm, most of the interaction with the campaign was directed via the NFC connectivity. The release states that the connected wine bottles accounted for 54% of brand engagement during the campaign. Additionally, interactions with the bottle accounted for more than 30% of consumer purchase conversion.

The release also states that the connected bottles were more effective than social media, as interaction via the SpeedTap tags accounted for 10 times more traffic than social platforms, and achieved 2.8 times the amount of time spent engaging with the campaign.

Packaging Perspective: While the success of this initiative is commendable for both Thinfilm and Barbadillo, it’s even more encouraging to hear the reasoning behind why such a large wine producer opted to take such a big risk on smart packaging.

While most brands are seeking ways to enhance their packaging to be more appealing to consumers’ physical senses in the retail environment, Barbadillo had the forethought to extend its brand experience to the digital space. From the case study:

Barbadillo knew it was critical to engage mobile-first consumers, including millennials; get them engaged with the brand; and keep the digital conversation going.

With the success of the campaign, it will be interesting to see how more brands work to increase the connectivity of their packaging. While Barbadillo is certainly a very early adopter of smart packaging, these results make it clear that brands will need to start thinking digitally, in addition to physically, when developing packaging concepts.