Category: E-Greetings

Voice Chocolate

On Valentine’s Day, women in Japan record a voice message on their smartphone. That voice is transformed into a unique chocolate pattern, and a premium patisserie, Mont St. Clair, delivers the custom chocolates to the men they love. The recipient then uses a special app that recognises the AR markers in the chocolate, and the voice message plays back from the smartphone. Here, “AR markers” means a scannable visual pattern the app recognises to trigger the audio playback.

The campaign comes from Docomo (Japan’s largest mobile phone company) working with agency Hakuhodo. The business context is straightforward. Voice communication traffic falls sharply over the last 15 years, largely due to messaging apps. Docomo uses the ritual of Valentine gifting to make voice feel emotional and “worth using” again.

The real question is how you make a declining behaviour feel emotionally valuable again, not just functional.

This kind of work beats a “make voice cool” content push, because it turns voice into something people already want to give, keep, and replay.

Why this works as mobile, packaging, and emotion in one system

This is not content about voice. It is voice turned into a physical artefact. The chocolate is both the gift and the interface. The phone becomes the capture tool. The app becomes the playback layer. In Japanese consumer telecom marketing, the emotional “why” is built in when the interface is also the gift.

Extractable takeaway: That combination matters because it closes the loop between human intent and digital capability. Make the message spoken, then tangible, then audible again at the moment of receiving.

The pattern to steal

If you want to revive a behaviour that is losing ground, the structure here is repeatable:

  • Pick the cultural moment. Find a culturally accepted moment where the behaviour already makes sense, in this case Valentine gifting.
  • Create a keepable token. Convert the behaviour into a physical token people want to give and keep, not a disposable digital asset.
  • Reveal at the right moment. Use an interaction layer (AR, scan, app) that reveals the emotional payload at the right moment, for the recipient.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Voice Chocolate”?

A Valentine concept where a recorded voice message is transformed into a chocolate pattern, delivered as a gift, then played back via an app that recognises AR markers in the chocolate.

Who is behind it?

Docomo in partnership with Hakuhodo, with chocolates delivered with help from Mont St. Clair.

What problem is it addressing?

Falling voice communication usage driven by messaging apps, by making voice feel meaningful again through gifting.

What is the core experience design move?

Turn a voice message into a physical interface, then use a scan-to-reveal mechanic so the voice returns at the moment of receiving.

BMW Christmas Safety Card

To wish customers a new year of safe driving, BMW, together with ad agency AIR and electronics company Selectron, creates a Christmas card meant to be hung in the car.

A micro-sensor is built into the card to measure driving behaviour and react with a spoken message, “Ho! Ho! Hooo! Just like Santa!”, when the car is driven unsafely. The sensor measures G-forces and reacts when the car accelerates too much, or when it brakes or drives too quickly through bends. Here, “G-forces” are used as a proxy for sudden changes in speed and direction.

In performance-focused automotive communities, safety messaging lands best when it shows up inside the driving moment rather than after the fact.

A Christmas card that behaves like a safety co-driver

This is not a decorative greeting. The card acts like a lightweight in-car safety layer. It listens for aggressive driving signals, then interrupts with a playful warning that is hard to ignore. Because the feedback triggers during the manoeuvre, it is harder to dismiss than a post-drive message.

The real question is how you make safer behaviour feel like part of the performance identity, not a constraint imposed from outside.

Behaviour change beats awareness here. A small “nudge” is simply a timely prompt that makes the next decision easier, and this one does it without turning the experience into a lecture.

Why this fits the BMW M League audience

These limited-edition cards are sent to members of the BMW M League who recently buy their car and participate in the BMW Track Days. For that audience, performance driving is part of the identity. This card nudges safer habits without lecturing, because it speaks in a tone that feels seasonal and disarming.

Extractable takeaway: If your audience prizes performance, frame safety as a co-driver that protects the fun, and deliver the correction in their own tone at the moment it matters.

The pattern to steal

  • Measure the behaviour directly. Choose one behaviour you want to influence and measure it directly.
  • Put the intervention where it lives. Embed the intervention into a physical object people will actually place in the environment.
  • Correct in the moment. Trigger feedback at the exact moment of behaviour, not later in an email or app.
  • Make correction socially acceptable. Use a tone that makes the correction acceptable, so people do not reject it on instinct.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the BMW Christmas Safety Card?

A Christmas card designed to hang in a car, with a built-in micro-sensor that detects unsafe driving and plays a Santa-style voice warning.

What does the sensor measure?

G-forces. It reacts to strong acceleration, hard braking, and taking bends too quickly.

Who receives these cards?

Members of the BMW M League who recently buy their car and participate in the BMW Track Days.

What is the core idea?

Turn a seasonal greeting into an in-car behavioural nudge that activates in the moment.

Here Comes the Fun: QR-Linked Xmas Greeting

Here is a Christmas video that I helped conceptualize and create for the agency revo in Germany.

The video is linked via a QR code that appears on the Christmas card sent along with an advent wreath.

Print, scan, smile

The mechanic is deliberately lightweight. Here, the mechanic is the interaction design itself: card, scan, then video. A physical card becomes the trigger. The QR code becomes the bridge. The video becomes the payoff. That is enough to turn a seasonal greeting into a small interaction rather than a static message.

In agency relationship marketing, the best holiday touchpoints feel personal and immediate, not like a campaign trying to sell.

The real question is whether a holiday greeting gives people a reason to act, not just a reason to glance and move on. A seasonal greeting works better as a tiny interaction than as a passive branded card.

Why it lands

It works because the scan reward is instant. You do not have to hunt for context or decode instructions. Because the QR code collapses the step between object and content, the greeting feels immediate instead of effortful. The format also respects the moment. People receiving a card are already in “small delight” mode, so a short video is the right level of effort and attention.

Extractable takeaway: If you use QR codes for greetings, keep the path frictionless and make the payoff feel like a human gesture, not a branded asset.

Have a great Christmas and a super New Year. More from Ramble in January 2012.

What to steal from QR-linked holiday greetings

  • Make the QR code the only call-to-action. One action beats multiple options on a card.
  • Deliver the payoff fast. The first seconds should clearly confirm “this is for you”.
  • Keep it short enough to rewatch. Replay is your distribution.
  • Design for the scan context. Good contrast, enough quiet space, and no tiny codes.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the core mechanic of this Christmas greeting?

A Christmas card carries a QR code. Scanning it takes you directly to a short holiday video.

Why use a QR code on a card at all?

It turns print into a bridge to motion and sound, without requiring logins, search, or extra instructions.

What makes a QR-linked greeting feel “right” instead of promotional?

Speed, simplicity, and tone. The content should feel like a direct message to the recipient, not a generic brand film.

What is the biggest failure mode?

Friction. If the QR code is hard to scan, or the landing experience is slow or confusing, people stop immediately.

How do you improve completion rates for short greeting videos?

Keep it short, front-load the greeting, and avoid long intros before the viewer understands what they are watching.