Tired? Try Kit Kat’s massaging billboard!

Out-of-home media (or OOH) has been one of the most used tactics in advertising for a very long time. It aims to help increase the chance of consumers’ advertising exposure. OOH media first started off by being a one-way communication tool. Consumers saw it and that was the end of its job. However, today, with the development of advanced technology the role of OOH has become more than just a plain, old, boring poster or billboard – it turned interactive.

Interactivity characteristic in today’s OOH media has created a two-way communication platform. Brands are now able to communicate with their target audience through the use of OOH media, which not only gives information, but a fun experience, too.

Many chocolate and confectionery lovers out there would definitely heard of this well-known slogan before -“Have a break, have a Kit Kat”. The brand establish their own image of being a stress-relieved snacks. Therefore, the brand’s advertising agency, JWT Colombia, came up with a super cool idea, which is a perfect mixture of what the brand is, as well as the use of OOH media.

This OOH advertisement is nothing like the typical billboards you had encountered in your life. This is because this advertisement billboard from Kit Kat will give you a free massage. To inform about the launching of Kit Kat in Colombia, 20 billboards were installed around Bogota, the capital city. The idea came from the insight of Bogota as being one of the cities with a high density of population. Every day, people have to face with tiring traffic jams and overused public transportation system. Therefore, to give the people of Bogota a break from their chaotic daily life, the massaging billboard was invented.

The use of a tiny motors in the billboard will activate a system that transferred pleasant vibrations to the lower and upper back of the user. What the user has to do is lean their back against it to receive a quick and pleasant massage.

They also took it to the next level by adding the use of Google Map. All the billboards installed across the city can be found in Google Map. How cool is that? Moreover, every time the word ‘tired’, ‘stressed’ or any other similar words were typed on Twitter, an automatic response will reply back with a location of the Kit Kat massing billboard nearby.

So what do think about this kind of OOH advertisement? Is it a good combination? Brand image was portrayed by giving people the proper ‘break’ from Kit Kat and the people also get exposed to an interactively creative piece of advertisement. I would love to know about your opinion about it. For me, I would definitely appreciate some comforting massage if I could!

References

1) Gianatasio, D. (2015). KitKat’s new billboards are truly touching: They give you a free massage are you up for it?. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/kitkats-new-billboards-are-truly-touching-they-give-you-free-massage-167822

2) MarketingOops. (2015). ครั้งแรกของโลกกับ “บิลบอร์ดนวดได้” KitKat สร้างสรรค์ไอเดียสุดล้ำเพื่อการพักผ่อน. Retrieved from http://www.marketingoops.com/ads-ideas/ooh/kitkat-billboards-will-give-you-a-massage/