Power of Online 78 | SunMatrix Ramble

GranataPet: Check In, Snack Out

GranataPet is one of the innovative leaders of high premium pet food in Germany. Their agency, agenta, was given the challenge to create awareness for GranataPet dog food on a slim budget.

The idea targets dog owners at the exact moment they are most open to noticing pet-related messages. While walking their best friend. Socially activated installations are placed on key walking routes. Dogs catch the scent of treats, stop, and pull their owners toward a billboard that simply says “Check in. Snack out”.

A sampling demo that your dog starts for you

This is a classic trial mechanic with a smart trigger. Instead of asking humans to approach a promoter, the dog does the targeting. The owner follows the leash. Then the message becomes self-evident. Check in with Foursquare to activate a free bowl of dog food.

How the mechanism works

The billboard combines three parts. A location check-in prompt, a connected dispenser and bowl, and a social echo via the check-in behavior, meaning each check-in can create additional visibility beyond the street placement itself. When a user checks in at the billboard’s location, the system releases a portion of food into the bowl. The owner watches the dog’s reaction in real time, which functions as the product demo.

In pet food sampling, the highest-converting trial moments are the ones where the animal can deliver an immediate preference signal in front of the owner.

The real question is whether the brand can turn a routine walk into a low-friction proof moment that the owner trusts more than advertising copy. The stronger move here is to let the dog, not the promoter, make the case.

Why it lands

It is easy to trigger, well-timed, and emotionally loaded. The owner does not have to imagine whether the dog will like the food. They see it. That works because a visible reaction from the dog removes guesswork faster than any product claim can. The social layer then turns one local poster into distributed impressions, because check-ins can surface to friends depending on settings. The most important part is that the “proof” is not the copy on the billboard. It is the dog’s behavior.

Extractable takeaway: If your product decision depends on a third party’s preference, build a live demo where that third party delivers the verdict on the spot, and use a simple location trigger to scale it.

What the brand is really buying

This is awareness, trial, and measurable demand in one loop. The execution creates talk value, it generates trackable interactions per location, and it pushes owners toward retail purchase after a positive in-the-moment test. Trade coverage at the time also described increased local demand following the activation.

What pet food marketers can steal from this

Target the moment, not the demographic. Dog-walking routes beat broad reach when the category is specific.
Let behavior be the headline. A happy dog is more persuasive than any claim line.
Make the trigger simple. One action. One reward. No explanation tax.
Use the environment as your interface. The billboard is the call-to-action and the proof point.
Instrument the activation. Location check-ins can double as measurement, not just distribution.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Check in, snack out” in one sentence?

An interactive billboard that dispenses free dog food when a nearby owner checks in using a location service.

Why does this outperform a normal sampling stand?

The dog initiates the interaction, and the product proves itself immediately through the dog’s reaction, which reduces hesitation for the owner.

What makes the social layer valuable here?

Check-ins can create secondary reach beyond the physical location, and they can be used to track which placements generate the most interactions.

What is the biggest operational risk?

Reliability. If the dispenser jams or the trigger fails, the experience collapses and the brand takes the blame.

How would you adapt this without Foursquare?

Keep the same structure. A location trigger plus instant physical reward. Use whatever mobile mechanism your audience already uses for quick opt-in and confirmation.

Flair: Fashiontag

Women are always looking for inspiration for their wardrobe and most of the time they find this inspiration by looking at other women.

This inspired agency Duval Guillaume to create a Flair Fashiontag Facebook app for Belgian women’s magazine Flair. In the app, instead of tagging people, you can tag people’s clothes or accessories and ask them where they got them.

All fashiontags are displayed in a Facebook gallery, and the best are published in the weekly edition of Flair. This way there is constant interaction between the Facebook application and the magazine itself.

Turning social curiosity into a repeatable format

The mechanism is a simple swap. Replace social tagging of people with social tagging of products. A photo becomes a shoppable question. The owner of the outfit becomes the source. The magazine becomes the curator that elevates the best finds from feed to print.

In fashion and lifestyle publishing, converting casual “where did you get that” moments into a structured loop is a practical way to keep community activity and editorial output feeding each other.

The smart move here is to treat wardrobe curiosity as a content engine, not as a side effect of social chatter. The real question is how to turn that curiosity into a repeatable loop that helps readers in the moment and gives the magazine something worth curating.

Why it lands

This works because it formalizes a behavior that already exists. People already look at outfits, notice details, and ask friends for sources. Fashiontag simply gives that behavior a native interface and a public gallery, then adds a prestige layer by featuring the best tags in the weekly magazine.

Extractable takeaway: If your audience already asks each other for product sources, build a lightweight format that captures those questions in the moment and rewards the best contributions with visible amplification.

What to steal from Fashiontag

Swap the object of attention: tag the item, not the person, when product discovery is the real intent.
Close the loop with curation: a gallery is useful. Editorial selection makes it aspirational.
Make participation low-friction: one tag, one question, one shareable output.
Bridge channels on purpose: use print, site, and social as a single system, not separate campaigns.
Protect the social contract: ensure the person in the photo is comfortable with tagging and featuring, especially when content moves into a magazine.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Flair Fashiontag?

It is a Facebook app for Flair magazine that lets users tag clothes or accessories in photos and ask where those items were purchased.

What makes it different from normal photo tagging?

Normal tagging identifies people. Fashiontag identifies items. It turns fashion curiosity into a structured question-and-answer interaction.

How does the magazine benefit from the Facebook app?

The app creates a steady flow of wardrobe inspiration and real questions from readers. The magazine then curates and publishes the best tags, which reinforces participation.

Why is this a strong community mechanic?

Because it rewards helpfulness. People contribute sources and recommendations, and the gallery plus print selection turns that help into recognition.

What is the biggest risk in this format?

Consent and comfort. Tagging items in someone’s photo can feel intrusive if the person did not opt in, especially if content can be featured publicly in print.

Liaison Dangereuse: Striptease Shopping

Valentine’s lingerie shopping, turned into a show

Liaison Dangereuse, a German lingerie brand, gave Serviceplan a creative challenge: increase lingerie sales around Valentine’s Day.

Seduction always works. So what about making the buying experience attractive and unique for men by giving them the opportunity of buying lingerie directly from the body of beautiful models, and pairing that with a memorable striptease? Thus a new way to sell online lingerie was created.

The mechanism that changes behavior

The idea reframes checkout as participation. Instead of browsing product grids, the customer “shops” from the model, which makes selection feel more like discovery than transaction, and reduces hesitation at the moment of choice.

In European ecommerce and performance marketing, the fastest lever is reducing hesitation by making the path to purchase feel emotionally easy and socially tellable.

The real question is whether you can turn your highest-friction step into a guided, retellable moment without breaking brand trust.

This kind of mechanic is worth copying only when it fits your brand voice and clear consent boundaries.

Why it lands with the intended buyer

This is built for a very specific Valentine’s reality: many male buyers want help choosing, and they want the moment to feel confident, not awkward. A guided, theatrical experience removes indecision and makes the purchase feel like part of the gift.

Extractable takeaway: When the buyer feels unsure about choice, redesign selection so confidence is the default and the mechanic becomes the story.

Earned media as a built-in distribution layer

Serviceplan not only generated free media coverage from major websites, newspapers and magazines in Germany, it also reported additional traffic of 155% to the Liaison Dangereuse website. Reported sales went up by 50% during the promotion.

Click here to watch the video on Ads of the World website.

Steal this conversion mechanic

Design for the buyer’s emotion. Remove embarrassment and decision anxiety. Add guided confidence.
Make the shopping path the story. If the mechanic is inherently retellable, distribution comes with it.
Focus the experience on the highest-friction moment. Choice, not payment, is often the real dropout point.
Measure what matters. Track uplift in qualified traffic, add-to-cart rate, and conversion, not just press mentions.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Striptease Shopping” for Liaison Dangereuse?

It is a Valentine’s-focused ecommerce activation that lets shoppers buy lingerie through a model-led, striptease-style interface, turning product selection into a playful, guided experience.

Who is the experience designed for?

It targets gift-buyers who feel unsure about lingerie choices. The mechanic reduces awkwardness and indecision by making selection feel assisted rather than self-directed.

What is the behavioral mechanism that improves conversion?

It reframes checkout as participation. By turning browsing into a simple, story-like interaction, it reduces hesitation and makes the purchase feel emotionally easy.

Why did it generate strong earned media?

The buying mechanic is unusual and instantly demonstrable. That makes it easy to describe, easy to show, and inherently shareable across press and social channels.

What results were reported from the promotion?

Campaign summaries reported +155% website traffic and +50% sales during the promotion period.

What is the key risk to manage with “seduction” mechanics?

Brand fit and boundaries. If the experience feels exploitative or off-brand, the attention can backfire. The idea needs clear intent, consent, and tone discipline.