Marketing Strategies 74 | SunMatrix Ramble

bpost Live Webshop: Every second cheaper

bpost is Belgium’s postal operator. To prove their ability to deliver, and to fend off new contenders in the delivery market, they open a pop-up store right in central Brussels that you can watch like a shop window.

A range of must-have items is put on display, from smartphones to designer coffee makers. The twist is that the only way to buy them is through a special online auction where the price of every product drops every second.

People have to act fast to catch an item before someone else does. Once sold, the item is picked up by a postman right in front of the webcam and delivered to the winning bidder, so everyone watching can see how quick and reliable the service is.

In European parcel and delivery markets, the hardest promise to prove is speed and reliability, so public demonstrations often land harder than product claims.

The real question is how you make a service promise visible enough that people trust it without having to take your word for it.

As a result, awareness of bpack, the delivery service being promoted, is reported as rising to 65%. In 6 days, 260,000 unique visitors are reported. For every hour the shop is online, bpost is reported as selling 8 products on average.

A webshop you can watch, not just click

The pop-up window makes the online mechanic tangible. People see the products in real life, then experience the purchase as a live moment, with delivery turning into the proof point rather than a line in the footer.

Why the “dropping price” mechanic creates urgency

A price that decreases every second builds a clear trade-off: wait for a better deal, or buy now before someone else does. Because the price is visibly falling, hesitation becomes a risk you can feel. That tension is the game. It keeps attention locked and makes the checkout decision feel like winning, not spending.

Extractable takeaway: Use a visible, fast-moving trade-off so waiting feels costly and acting feels like progress, not purchase.

What bpost is really selling with bpack

The service story is simple: “wherever you are, we deliver.” The activation turns that into something visible, with a postman dispatching the parcel immediately after purchase. The product is delivery confidence. Proof beats claims when reliability is the benefit.

Service-proof moves worth reusing

Make the benefit observable. If your promise is speed, show speed in public.
Use a mechanic that explains itself. A visible countdown beats a paragraph of copy.
Build in a live “receipt”. The moment of dispatch is the proof people remember.
Design for spectators. If watching is entertaining, the audience becomes the distribution layer.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the bpost Live Webshop?

It is a pop-up retail window in Brussels where products can only be bought via a live webshop auction, with prices dropping every second and delivery shown on camera to prove service speed.

How does the “price drops every second” auction work?

Each product starts at a set price and continuously decreases over time. The first person to click and buy wins the item at that moment’s price.

Why show a postman picking up the parcel live?

Because it turns a delivery claim into visible proof. The dispatch moment demonstrates reliability and speed better than messaging can.

What is bpack in this campaign?

bpack is positioned as the delivery service being promoted. The activation is designed to raise awareness and trust in that specific service.

What is the main lesson for brands selling services?

When trust is the barrier, do not just explain the promise. Stage it so people can watch the promise being kept.

Catch the Oreo: An Augmented Reality Game

Oreo Cookies, to commemorate the first video game created by Ralph H. Baer, used modern day technology to create an augmented reality game called “Catch the Oreo”. The game is available on Android and iOS devices.

Here, augmented reality means the phone camera view overlays virtual Oreos onto the live scene, so you catch them in your space.

People living in Norway and Denmark are automatically entered into a sweepstake competition by just playing and uploading their high score. There are weekly prizes and the winners are decided by drawing lots.

Competition lasts from 8 April to 28 July 2013 (both dates included). So start playing.

Why AR is a good fit for a simple, repeatable game

The charm of “Catch the Oreo” is that it takes a basic arcade mechanic and gives it a physical feeling. AR turns “tap on a screen” into “catch it in your space”, which makes the game feel more immediate and more shareable.

Extractable takeaway: When the core action is instantly understandable, AR can add physicality and shareability without adding rule complexity.

AR works best here as a thin layer of delight over a simple arcade loop, not as the loop itself.

Instant understanding. Catch the cookie. Score points. Improve your high score.
AR adds novelty without complexity. The camera layer makes it feel new, but the rules stay simple.
Replays are built in. High scores naturally invite repeated attempts.

In European FMCG marketing, lightweight mobile games like this can be a practical way to turn momentary attention into repeatable engagement.

The sweepstake mechanic reduces pressure and increases participation

Weekly prizes and winners drawn by lots change the psychology. You do not have to be the absolute best player to feel you have a chance. You just have to play and upload.

The real question is whether your mechanic can motivate repeat play without making most participants feel they have already lost.

That is a smart way to broaden participation, especially in markets where you want scale quickly.

A random-draw sweepstake can reward participation rather than skill, which can widen the funnel while still benefiting from weekly prize cadence.

Why Norway and Denmark focus matters

By making the sweepstake specific to Norway and Denmark, Oreo can concentrate buzz, prize logistics, and local relevance. It also allows them to measure adoption and participation within a defined footprint.

What to take from this if you run mobile engagement campaigns

Keep the core mechanic simple. AR is the layer. The game rules should be obvious.
Reward participation, not only skill. Lot-based prizes can widen the funnel.
Use time-boxed windows. Fixed dates create urgency and repeat visits.
Make sharing part of the flow. High-score uploads naturally create a distribution loop.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Catch the Oreo”?

It is an augmented reality mobile game created by Oreo, available on Android and iOS, where players catch Oreos to achieve a high score.

Where was the sweepstake promotion available?

For people living in Norway and Denmark, who were entered automatically by playing and uploading their high score.

How were winners selected?

There were weekly prizes and winners were decided by drawing lots, not purely by highest score.

What were the competition dates?

It ran from 8 April to 28 July 2013, with both dates included.

What is the main lesson for AR marketing?

Use AR to add delight, but keep the underlying mechanic simple and repeatable, then attach incentives that drive replays and sharing.

Toronto Silent Film Fest: Instagram trailers

You open Instagram, land on a feed of black-and-white stills, and start scrolling fast. Suddenly the images “move” like a flipbook. It feels like a tiny silent-movie trailer hiding inside a platform that is supposed to be static photos.

The month before, Fox used Vine to mash up a Wolverine trailer and stir hype. Now the Toronto Silent Film Festival borrows the same instinct, then applies it to Instagram. It promotes the event with what it bills as a first-of-its-kind set of Instagram trailers that only really work on a smartphone.

An Instagram trailer, in this format, is a sequence of consecutive still frames posted as individual images. When you scroll rapidly, your thumb becomes the playback control and the feed becomes the projector.

In niche cultural events marketing, the fastest way to earn attention on a small budget is to turn a platform’s native behaviour into the medium.

The trick lands because the mechanic matches the subject. Silent films are built on frame-by-frame illusion. Instagram is built on frame-by-frame browsing. Put the two together and the experience feels clever, not forced.

Why this works better than a normal trailer drop

A standard trailer asks for time and attention up front. This asks for curiosity first. You discover the motion by accident, then you replay it because you want to confirm what you just saw. That discovery loop is the real distribution engine. For a social-first launch, this is a better opener than dropping a normal trailer because it earns replays before it asks for commitment. By “discovery loop” I mean the accidental motion, the immediate replay to confirm it, and the urge to show someone else.

Extractable takeaway: If you can turn a native gesture into a repeatable “did you see that?” moment, you can earn attention and sharing without asking for a click.

What the campaign is really doing

It is less about explaining the festival and more about attracting the right kind of audience. If you enjoy the hack, you are probably the kind of person who will enjoy the program. The format acts like a filter for taste.

The real question is whether your launch gives people a simple action that doubles as playback and sharing.

This work is credited to Cossette, and it later picked up industry recognition for using mobile behaviour as the creative device, which fits the strategy. Make the idea itself feel like a silent-film magic trick.

What to steal for your own social-first launch

Exploit a native gesture. Scrolling is a universal habit. Build around it.
Make discovery the hook. The best “first play” happens when people think they found something.
Match mechanic to meaning. Frame-by-frame browsing is a perfect metaphor for silent-film motion.
Keep the explanation optional. If the concept needs a paragraph to understand, it will not spread.

A few fast answers before you act

How do Instagram trailers work in this campaign?

The trailer is split into many still frames and posted as consecutive images. On a phone, you scroll quickly through the feed to simulate motion like a flipbook.

Why does this feel “right” for a silent film festival?

Silent cinema is fundamentally frame-based illusion. This mechanic recreates that feeling using modern thumb-scrolling, so the medium reinforces the message.

What is the main advantage over posting a normal video?

Discovery. People do not just watch. They figure it out, replay it, and show someone else how it works.

What kind of brands or events can use this pattern?

Anything with a strong visual identity and a story that benefits from “reveal”. Especially cultural events, launches, and limited-time programs where curiosity drives consideration.

What is the biggest risk with platform hacks?

If the experience only works in a narrow usage mode, many people will miss it. The mechanic needs to be obvious enough that first-time viewers understand what to do within seconds.