Diageo and Thinfilm to showcase smart bottle at Mobile World Congress

The printed sensor tags, as to be showcased on a Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottle, feature Thinfilm's OpenSense technology, which can detect both the sealed and opened state of each bottle by utilizing near-field communication (NFC) capabilities of modern smartphones.

The tags and the sensor information they contain will allow Diageo to send personalized communications to consumers who read the tags with their smartphones.

Diageo will also be able to track bottle movements across the supply chain, in-store and to the point of consumption, with the sensor tags remaining readable even when the factory seal has been broken, so providing an additional layer of security in protecting the authenticity of the product.

The innovation was developed by Thinfilm and Diageo Technology Ventures. Diageo Technology Ventures was established in September 2014, and is a program specifically designed to solve some of the company's existing business challenges and unlock new opportunities for future growth by working with emerging technology companies.

As the first initiative to be rolled out as part of this program, the working prototype bottle illustrates the new possibilities Diageo's packaging enables for customers and retailers including advancements in sensors, electronic printing, material sciences and mobile technologies.

The prototype Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottle will be on display at Thinfilm's booth during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, which will run March 2-5.

Mobile World Congress is the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, supported by a conference program.

Helen Michels, global innovation director of the Diageo Futures group, said: ‘Mobile technology is changing the way we live, and as a consumer brands company we want to embrace its power to deliver amazing new consumer experiences in the future.

‘We constantly experiment with the latest cutting edge technologies to enrich and enhance the experiences delivered by our iconic brands. Our collaboration with Thinfilm allows us to explore all the amazing new possibilities enabled by smart-bottles for consumers, retailers and our own business, and it sets the bar for technology innovation in the drinks industry.’

Davor Sutija, Thinfilm chief executive officer, added: ‘As mobility becomes ubiquitous, consumers want and expect brands to follow suit and deliver custom mobile experiences. But today's conventional NFC mobile marketing solutions are not technologically advanced enough to create immersive or customizable consumer experiences.

By leveraging OpenSense, Thinfilm is enabling 'smart bottles' to carry digital information that can be accessed via NFC smartphones. Diageo can reap the benefits of the intelligence gleaned from our smart sensors and create engaging experiences for its customers. This is how we will begin to build the real Internet of Everything.’

Last year ThinFilm announced its partnership with Evrythng to collaborate on smart labels and is involved in this project with Diageo - each bottle’s unique identity triggers real-time marketing experience and supply chain analytics managed by the Evrythng IoT Smart Products cloud platform.

Data and cloud software is the key ingredient in IoT to partner the product and hardware. The sustainable business ROI behind the connected concept is in operating products with real-time services, experiences and analytics. The end to end solution provided by Evrythng and Thinfilm combines intelligent, real-time cloud software with smart packaging hardware powered by printed electronics technology. It allows products to be digitally active, turning every product, on every shelf, into uniquely identifiable, controllable, interactive assets - and a new owned media channel for direct digital relationships with individual consumers who engage with products via their smartphone.

Both Thinfilm and Evrythng participated in the Labelexpo Americas Smart Mart in 2014. Read more about Evrythng here.