Projects: Henkel

Internet and locally based cellphone services offer marketing divisions a completely new way of addressing customers. Global corporation Henkel is already convinced.

"That is a great shade of blonde," thinks Sue Jones, using her cellphone camera to take a photo of the barcode on the poster. One more click and the cellphone display shows the product information page for "Poly Live", a hair color rinse from the cosmetics division of the Henkel corporation. Jones' cellphone now displays a map of the town and the nearest drugstore selling the hair dye.

T-Systems and other exhibitors will be presenting such advertising solutions of the future in Düsseldorf at the beginning of March. The globally operating Henkel corporation will be there. As a manufacturer of world-famous brands such as Prit, Pril and Persil, Henkel knows how important innovation is for success: Since its launch on the market in 1907, the traditional Persil laundry detergent has been constantly enhanced. Previous Persil marketing campaigns such as the one involving the 'White Lady' of the 1920s or the famous television slogan "Persil washes whiter – and it shows" are still remembered.  

Interactivity instead of sprinkling.

Today, television advertising must compete with the Internet, cellphone and IPTV. "TV advertising is a one-way street," admits Sibylle Westermann, Henkel's Global Account Manager at T-Systems. Interactivity and mobility are the future. Henkel is already using the Internet and podcasts as marketing tools. These could be joined by even more media forms: "Contigo" and "Qiro" cellphone services, developed by T-Systems in collaboration with T-Laboratories, Deutsche Telekom’s research and development center.

Contigo converts the camera phone into an electronic shopping list. The customer takes a snapshot of the barcode on an advertisement to display product information or video footage. One more click, and the item lands in a virtual shopping cart. New types of product inserts  – modern give-aways – are also possible: "With a barcode on the inner side of a product's packaging, you could also offer the latest promotional song exclusively for download," explains Ms. Westermann.

Interactive cards and coupons lure customers into the store.

Contigo gets even more interesting when it comes to the Qiro – a locally based mobile service. It displays a map on the cellphone screen showing the stores nearby that carry the particular product. "At the same time, a coupon is transmitted to the customer, offering a discount if he or she buys the product that day," continues Ms. Westermann. The customer guide goes even further in the store: Thanks to "in-store communication", the customer can print out the coupon at a terminal and find out exactly where the product is in the store and how much it costs.

"The Henkel IT Innovation Fair, with the link between business and technology exhibited there, was a complete success," concludes Ulrich Kelm, Innovation Manager at Henkel. Contigo may be available as soon as this year. And Qiro is up and running as a prototype, available at www.myqiro.de (only in German).

Read the full story in the printed edition.