Oscar Mayer's latest far-out innovation for building brand buzz is an iPhone plug-in that emits the smell of bacon, serving as an olfactory alarm clock.
The scent-emitting plug-in will only be available to the 4,700 winners of a contest.
To enter, consumers need to visit WakeUpandSmelltheBacon.com and fill out a "bacon beta tester entry form" -- simple questions that convey points about how Oscar Mayer bacon is made. The brand will randomly select the winners.
However, anyone can download the free, main Wake Up & Smell the Bacon app, which wakes users with the sound of sizzling bacon, from the iTunes store. (In combination with the plug-in, the app both sizzles and emits the bacon smell.)
Oscar Mayer is promoting the contest with an over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek video. Since it was published on YouTube a day ago, the two-minute version has already pulled nearly 26,000 views.
To create the device, Oscar Mayer partnered with the Japanese inventor of Scentee, a mobile app that is offered with a variety of scent cartridges, like lavender and strawberry. 360i created the Web site and videos.
The app and plug-in are brainchildren of the "Oscar Mayer Institute for the Advancement of Bacon" -- the same group that came up with selling "Say It With Bacon" men's gift packs (bacon strips and items like cufflinks packaged in velvet jewelers' boxes) for Father's Day last year.
COMMENTARY: I have written about 'scent marketing' numerous times before in my blog, but Oscar Mayer takes scent marketing a step forward by partnering with scent maker Scentee. Although the new Smell of Bacon app and the accompanying device that emits the scent during the wakeup call, has only garnered 26,000 views, the Smell of Bacon app needs to be promoted. I have yet to see any TV commercials promoting the Smell of Bacon. How about "eggs and bacon?" or "bacon in the morning?" It should be doing a lot more to promote this app in order to create legions of Oscar Mayer bacon lovers. Perhaps a include the app with packages of Oscar Mayer bacon or point-of-sale displays near the bacon display case at grocers. I am really surprised that this app has not caught on more.
Courtesy of an article dated March 6, 2014 appearing in MediaPost Publications Marketing Daily
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/220894/oscar-mayer-creates-wake-up-app-with-bacon-smell.html?edition=70612
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