Advertising: Coffee Cups That Talk

Coffee cups used to just say, "Contents may be hot." Now, our cups ask us to: "Text CUP to 30241 to share your revelation and it could be seen here!" That's a big step when all you want to do in the morning is shake off yesterday's late night.

Advertising companies are clearly looking to latch on to the participatory wave of advertising:

"Tweet your customer service complaints!"
"Take this online poll!"
"Visit our blog!"

But if you're unwilling to accept text messages from friends, what would compel you to send a text into the abyss?

 

It helps to first think about how American Idol originally popularized texting-in votes for your favorite singer each week. Although a scandal now casts doubt on the voting process, a sizable percentage of the show's near 100 million votes comes in via text message.

Millions of people feel comfortable enough voting by text, so it's not that far of a stretch to see people contributing more than a simple vote. The Green Mountain Coffee Roaster's (GMCR) coffee cup asks for your "revelations," but the payoff for the contributor is not immediate. American Idol viewers see the effect of their contributions the very next day in a "results show." Texting your coffee cup revelation yields only a slim chance of ever seeing the fruits of your efforts. The closest you might come to ever seeing your text again is seeing your submission on the GMCR's blog.

Susan Cote, director of brand marketing for GMCR's specialty coffee business unit said they've received 1,000 text messages and six to twelve of them will make it on the cups. But the payoff, she said, is how it helps them "engage directly with our consumers."

"The messaging on our cups," she wrote in an e-mail, "provides a two-way communication that allows us to learn what matters to them."

But are text campaigns authentic communication between the brand and consumer? Would you rather text Green Mountain Coffee or American Idol?