The UK residents who love eating Kit-Kat bars now have the opportunity to unwrap a GPS device that Nestle intends to use to find out who they are and offer them a prize. This brings back the memories of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which tells Charlie Bucket’s story who is one of the winners of a golden ticket that allows him and other four kids from other countries of the world to visit Willy Wonka’s tightly guarded chocolate factory.
According to Nestle, it is the first company to market its chocolate candies using a GPS based promotion, which is dubbed “We Will Find You”. The company will place a bar that is GPS enabled inside four Kit-Kat candy versions. The York press newspaper reports that the Kit-Kat candy containing the GPS device will appear just like regular Kit-Kat bars. When the person who has bought the bar opens the wrapper by pulling a tab, he or she will activate the device and this will notify the candy maker.
A team of Nestle employees will then locate the person within a period of twenty four hours and offer him or her a £10,000 check. This is equivalent to about 16,000 dollars. According to Nestle, the campaign is designed to attract men to buy the candies because they are known to love GPS technology. The company is backing its promotion with television advertisements and a Smartphone campaign. People can use phones that are equipped with NFC to enter an online competition or scan QR codes on Kit-Kat advertisements.
Even though Nestle is the first company that has carried out its marketing campaign through candy bars containing a GPS device, it is not the first company that has tracked customers by using GPS. Network World reports that Unilever, which manufactures products like soap and ice cream, placed a GPS device in the container of laundry soap that it markets in Brazil. Unilever then tracked fifty customers to their homes to offer them prizes.
Companies that sell soda, candy wrappers and fast food always have ongoing contents but most of them usually require customers to notice the winning codes in order to receive the prize. The concept of using GPS devices to track customers down is completely unique and interesting.
