Category: Live Communication

Pepsi Like Machine

You walk up to the Pepsi’s “Like Machine”, tap “Like” for Pepsi on Facebook using your smartphone or the machine’s touchscreen, and it dispenses a soda. Simple rule. Instant reward.

The Like Machine mechanic

Coca-Cola has created a whole bunch of innovative vending machines over the last couple of years. Pepsi, on the other hand, created only a couple. Now to add to that collection, Pepsi piloted its latest vending machine. Dubbed the “Like Machine”, it was programmed to dispense soda to fans who “Like” the brand on Facebook via their smartphone or via the touchscreen on the machine.

Where did Pepsi pilot it

Pepsi piloted the machine at a Beyonce concert in Antwerp, Belgium and received a good response. So do not be surprised if you see more of them popping up nearby.

Why “Like” works as currency here

The exchange is clear. A lightweight social action becomes the trigger for a real-world payoff. The behaviour is familiar, the barrier is low, and the moment is easy to understand even in a noisy live-event setting.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Pepsi Like Machine?

It is a vending machine that dispenses a Pepsi to people who like the Pepsi brand on Facebook, either via their phone or on the machine touchscreen.

Why test this at a concert?

Concert crowds are already in a high-energy mindset and open to quick interactions. That makes participation fast and visible, which boosts word of mouth.

What is the simplest lesson to copy?

Make the rule obvious, the action effortless, and the reward immediate. If any one of those is slow or unclear, participation drops.

What should you measure?

Participation rate per hour, completion rate (start to dispense), and the incremental social lift tied to the activation window.

Heineken: UEFA Giveaway

Here are two campaigns that Heineken created in Europe to give away seats for the UEFA Champions League finals in London last month.

Heineken: The Negotiation

Heineken challenged football fans at a furniture store in the Netherlands to convince their ladies to buy a $1899 set of plastic stadium chairs for their home. If they managed to pull it off, they would win a trip to the final. The result:

Heineken: The Seat

In Italy, Heineken hid 20 tickets under 20 Wembley seats and spread them around Rome and Milan. Fans then had only one hour to find them and secure their place at the final. The result:

Two different mechanics, one sponsorship objective

Both ideas do the same strategic job. They make the sponsorship feel like something you can play, not just something you watch.

In European football sponsorship, ticket scarcity is a powerful emotion. Brands win when they turn that emotion into participation that fans can retell in one breath.

Why these promos travel so easily

The Negotiation works because it stages a recognisable domestic conflict and turns it into a public challenge. You do not have to care about Heineken to enjoy the tension. You just need to recognise the situation.

The Seat works because it feels like a real-world game with an unfair advantage for the most alert fans. A one-hour window and a physical search turns “tickets” into a quest, and the city becomes the interface.

What to steal for your next high-value giveaway

  • Do not just “give away”. Build a mechanic that proves fandom or commitment in a fun way.
  • Make it legible in five seconds. If people cannot explain the rules instantly, the idea will not spread.
  • Use time pressure carefully. A short window creates urgency, but it must still feel fair.
  • Let the prize stay pure. The reward is the story. The brand should be the enabler, not the gatekeeper.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the core mechanic in Heineken’s Negotiation?

A persuasion challenge staged in a real retail environment. The couple dynamic is the entertainment engine, and the prize converts the tension into a payoff.

Why does a scavenger hunt work for high-demand tickets?

Because it turns passive desire into active effort. The search itself becomes the content, and the winners feel like they earned the prize rather than being randomly selected.

What is the main sponsorship benefit of campaigns like these?

They convert a sponsorship from branding to experience. The brand becomes part of how fans remember the final, not just a logo around it.

What is the biggest risk with “race” mechanics?

Perceived unfairness. If the rules, locations, or timing feel stacked, the conversation flips from excitement to frustration.

What should you measure beyond video views?

Look for participation rate, speed of uptake, earned media pickup, and how often people retell the mechanic in social posts. Those indicate whether the idea actually travelled.

Hello bank!: The Mobile Orchestra

To promote Hello bank!, BNP Paribas and agency B-Roll wired up 60 musicians in the Czech National Symphony Orchestra with smartphones and tablets for a rousing rendition of “Carmen.”

A bank launch that uses devices as instruments

Hello bank! is positioned as an “all-digital” bank in Europe, and the launch film turns that idea into a performance. BNP Paribas and agency B-Roll wire up 60 musicians in the Czech National Symphony Orchestra with smartphones and tablets and stage a rousing rendition of “Carmen.”

The mechanism is not an app demo. It is a symbolic proof. The devices that usually represent distraction and notifications become part of the orchestra, implying that “digital” can be disciplined, coordinated, and human when it is designed well.

In European financial services launches, differentiation is often abstract. “Digital” and “easy” sound the same everywhere, so the work has to make the promise visible.

Why it lands

This works because it treats technology as an instrument, not a feature list. Orchestras are the opposite of chaotic. They are synchronized systems where every signal matters. That metaphor is useful for a digital bank that wants to feel trustworthy while still modern.

Extractable takeaway: When your product benefit is invisible, translate it into a physical system people already associate with reliability. A performance can do what a product explainer cannot. It makes the promise feel real.

What the brand is really trying to say

Hello bank! is telling the market that “digital-first” does not have to mean cold or fragile. The orchestration suggests competence, control, and a new kind of everyday convenience that still sits on serious infrastructure.

What to steal for your next launch film

  • Choose a metaphor with built-in credibility. Orchestras communicate precision and trust without needing a voiceover.
  • Let tech be a prop, not the plot. Devices appear, but the story is about what they enable.
  • Make the proof visible. A claim becomes believable when it has a physical analogue the audience can instantly read.
  • Keep the idea retellable. “A symphony played on smartphones and tablets” is enough to earn a click.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Hello bank! “Mobile Orchestra” campaign?

It is a launch film where the Czech National Symphony Orchestra performs while using smartphones and tablets as part of the instrumentation, created to symbolize Hello bank!’s digital-first positioning.

Why use an orchestra to communicate a bank promise?

Because orchestras represent coordination and reliability. That meaning transfers well to a digital bank that must feel safe while being modern.

Is this an app demo or a brand story?

It is primarily a brand story. The devices are a metaphorical proof of “digital” rather than a walkthrough of product features.

What makes this shareable as branded content?

The premise is instantly understandable and visually unusual. People click to see how it is done, and the brand benefit travels inside the spectacle.