ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Sanpellegrino vitalizes neighborhood discovery via Delightways app

Nestle Waters? Sanpellegrino Sparkling Fruit Beverages brand is uncapping location-based discovery with the rollout of the Delightways mobile application, which leverages a partnership with Foursquare to highlight a city?s most interesting attractions and up-and-coming hot spots.

The Delightways app takes users on an interactive journey through their favorite cities by inspiring them to appreciate the joy of wandering through undiscovered areas, a popular pastime of the Italian lifestyle. The app allows consumers to input a specific destination or opt to roam around a new area before suggesting a path that showcases the respective city?s up-and-coming hot spots and top attractions, thanks to the help of location-based mobile platform Foursquare.

?The trend is that brands are starting to see the benefits from apps compared to Web sites, the most obvious being the ability to present custom brand-specific content directly via mobile,? said Tony Vizioli, marketing manager, Italian brands at Nestle Waters. ?Apps also do a better job of helping the consumer visualize the brand experience, versus traditional Web site brand pages. 

?With the recent addition of Apple enabling paid app search capabilities, more companies and brands will now look to create apps to help better interact with their audience.?

The Delightways app was created in partnership with Ogilvy & Mather New York. 

Uncapping new adventures
The Delightways app was created to fill a void left by other mobile mapping tools ? the loss of the joy of wandering. Although time-strapped consumers typically prefer to reach their desired destinations in the shortest amount of time possible, Sanpellegrino seeks to bring a degree of spontaneity back into their lives.

The beverage brand collaborated with location platform Foursquare to pinpoint major cities? most enticing attractions and up-and-coming hot spots. Foursquare has been ramping up its efforts for increased audience outreach as of late, making the collaboration an ideal move to foster connections with on-the-go millennials and younger consumers.

?The Delightways app requires venue data to populate the experience with content,? Mr. Vizioli said. ?In addition to curated influencer content from our PR and media partners and retail points from our store locator, we wanted to provide a comprehensive base layer of venue data so the paths in our key cities were filled with interesting location content. 

?In our discovery phase, we found Foursquare to be the best partner due to the fact that their platform offered a wide breadth of location data?ranging from the best Chelsea art galleries, to where to find a beautiful hidden garden, or neighborhood vintage bookstore,? he said.

?This is precisely the type of data we were looking for to populate the app?a well-balanced mix of the established and the unknown to both intrigue and delight our users.?

Individuals using the app ? which is available for iOS and Android devices ? can input their starting point and destination, or choose to wander around their city. They may then adjust the suggested path by indicating their preferred length of the journey. Users can select several options between ?shorter? and ?longer? meandering sessions.

Each Delightways path will bring individuals on a winding route peppered with interesting stops, such as specialty cafes, art installations, food trucks, gardens and local boutiques.

If users end up loving one of the new spots, they can add it to their in-app list of favorites. Conversely, if they do not like one of the suggested locations, they may swipe left to remove it from their list of stops.

Consumers can also inform their friends of any must-visit places by pressing the ?Tell Your Friends? button.

Additionally, individuals can opt to take a path created by popular local tastemakers.

The Delightways app can be used by residents of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Miami, Boston, Seattle, Austin and Atlanta.

Sanpellegrino is also bottling up support for the app launch by giving consumers even more reasons to explore their various cities. This summer, the company is planning to offer complimentary bike share weekends in San Francisco, New York and Chicago.

Outpouring influencer support
To celebrate the app rollout, Sanpellegrino tapped actress and social influencer Shay Mitchell to act as a brand ambassador for Delightways.

Ms. Mitchell, who stars in the popular television show ?Pretty Little Liars,? attended a VIP launch event for the app last week in New York, and will upload branded posts across her social platforms as the summer progresses.

Teaming up with a popular millennial social media star is a smart move to ensure that Delightways reaches its target audience. Instagram and Twitter users that see Ms. Mitchell posting about her experiences with the app may become inspired to download Delightways and undertake their own discovery adventures.

Ms. Mitchell will also post via the #LifeDeliziosa hashtag, which acts as a nod to Sanpellegrino?s Italian roots.

Beverage brands have been bolstering their mobile presence with increased fervor lately, showcasing their intent to reach younger demographics with interactive, unforgettable content.

For example, a Nestle Waters executive at the Forrester Marketing 2016 Forum detailed a strategy on how the company gained insights from a connected cooler that prompts mobile device owners to use its free Wi-Fi when nearby (see story).

Meanwhile, last winter, Nestle?s Poland Spring brand teamed up with Amazon?s fashion sales site MyHabit on a mobile-optimized travel and shopping guide for Maine that paired inspirational content with several different commerce opportunities (see story).

?The [Delightways] app has so many features we?re excited about, including being able to save your favorite path locations to go back to on a future journey, the ability to share the app with friends through Facebook, Twitter and email, and just the overall functionality of it,? Mr. Vizioli said.

?It really allows consumers to fully customize their journey to create their own ?daily? bucket list.?