Starbucks China adds NFC to festive check-in campaign

The coffee giant is using NFC-enabled posters to promote a rewards campaign that will see everyone who checks in to Starbucks via social network Jiepang getting a voucher for a free drink upgrade — but only if a total of 30,000 check-ins is reached by the Christmas deadline.

Starbucks
STARBUCKS: Checking out NFC check-ins in China with Jiepang

Jiepang, China’s leading location-based social media service, has announced it is working with Starbucks China on a holiday promotion that uses a combination of outdoor advertising, NFC technology, location-based services and social media.

Jiepang users who check-in at a Starbucks store in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces between 8 November and 17 December will get a virtual Starbucks badge. When the number of badges issued hits 30,000, the virtual Christmas tree at Starbucks’ event webpage will light up — and those who have collected the badge will be able to enjoy a free upgrade to a larger size drink at Starbucks between 17 December and 25 December.

To promote the offer, Jiepang has placed signs containing NFC tags on more than thirty commercial buildings near Starbucks stores in Shanghai. When consumers read a tag with an NFC-enabled phone, a message will pop up showing them where the nearest Starbucks store is and the fastest route to get there.

And, in expectation of hitting the target, on 17 December the large LED screen on Raffles City Mall in People’s Square, one of the busiest spots in Shanghai, will broadcast the lighting up of the virtual Christmas tree for two hours.

“We are happy to partner Starbucks with Jiepang to roll out this really engaging, interesting and impressive campaign that connects online interactions to the offline world,” says Starbucks Coffee Shanghai’s Lu Huang. “It successfully brings Starbucks closer to the consumers during this holiday season.”

“This is the largest as well as most creative campaign we have ever worked with Starbucks,” David Liu, Founder and CEO of Jiepang said. “It is interesting to see how a more traditional ad medium becomes a vital part of the location-based marketing, we believe this is going to be more and more popular going forward.”

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