Infamous Tastings is an in-store sampling experience that uses the latest in augmented reality and virtual reality to literally bring the world of 19 Crimes to life in the wine aisle.

We started by creating the 19 Crimes app, an augmented reality storytelling experience that transforms each bottle of 19 Crimes into a virtual brand ambassador by bringing our labels to life – and letting the convicts on our bottles speak directly to Kroger shoppers.

Next, we leveraged virtual reality to immerse shoppers in the hull of a prison ship on its way to Australia in 1867. Using 360° VR headsets, we gave shoppers a chance to experience punishment by transportation – just like our convicts, but without the life sentence.

Finally, we combined both experiences at in-store events, where shoppers could sample while they tried out our talking bottles and immersive VR.

Our Infamous Tastings initiative was customized exclusively for Kroger retail stores, with 1,475 nationwide sampling events in-market from June to August, 2017.

Leaving the conventional wine tasting model behind, and tasting notes behind, we instead armed our sampling teams with interactive, 360° VR headsets that virtually dropped shoppers into the cell of a prison ship on its way to the penal colonies of Australia. We built it all from scratch—set, actors, narration, and effects—to recreate the hull of a 19th century prison ship on its way to the Australian. We released the VR experience online as well for followers to engage using smartphones.

Infamous Tasting brand ambassadors also demoed our AR app, bringing the convicts on our labels to life and revealing each wine’s unique stories. A national point-of-sale campaign engaged shoppers to download the app and share the experience with their “gang”.

The campaign was an overwhelming success; 19 Crimes became a phenomenon, going viral on social media, app store and shattering our targets.

Results include:

- 101% YOY sales increase

- +98% in customer depletions (benchmark industry average of +3%)

- Implementation at POS by key national retailers, including Kroger, which purchased exclusivity to VR sampling events

- 45K shoppers engaged at 1,475 nationwide sampling events, with 58% conversion rate during sampling period — 3x higher than industry standards

- 1.2M+ app downloads with an average app session duration of 3:39 minutes and trending status in the App store

- 128M earned media impressions via PR coverage from mass media outlets (broadcast and digital) and 20M organically earned video views via Facebook alone

- Over 2k user-generated videos of the app uploaded to YouTube

- 412% increase in engagement on social media