Dive Brief:
- Folgers is the sponsor for this year’s Taste of Home Gingerbread House, which will be located in New York City and will include virtual and interactive elements as outlined in news provided to Marketing Dive. The live experience begins December 6.
- One interactive element is a digital screen called “America’s Holiday Mantel” that will display consumer-submitted photos using the hashtag #holidayheritage.
- The photos will also be used in Folgers ad units across Taste of Home digital channels.
Dive Insight:
Food and entertainment publishing brand Taste of Home has been hosting the gingerbread house installation for the last three years. In the past, people could only experience the gingerbread house virtually via mobile phones, but this is the first year visitors can actually enter the house and view interactive elements.
The campaign is a great example of brands tying online and offline worlds with mobile devices the main connecting glue. Connecting with mobile users during key moments when they are engaging with their phones is an important strategy, with the holidays providing some unique opportunities like themed installations.
During the previous three years of the Taste of Home Gingerbread House effort, the main engagement was with the mobile device while viewing gingerbread houses from outside. This is the first year the campaign involves only one house as well as the first time visitors can actually enter the house to physically interact with some of the digital elements such as being greeted by a virtual marshmallow and decorating an interactive Christmas tree through a touchscreen.