Every consumer is unique. With +more every bottle can be too. Unlocked by a smartphone and linked to their social network profile, the consumer can enjoy rewarding social experiences and enhanced, useful and entertaining content, with every purchase. Delivering the promise “there’s more to this bottle than meets the eye”.

The platform consists of three layers. The foundation is our Web of Things software Engine, which creates a unique digital identity for each physical bottle (or any product/object) in the Cloud. Think of each individual bottle as having its own addressable profile online, like we do on social networks. A middle layer of core services integrates digital bottle identities with Diageo’s CRM, supply and analytics systems. And a top layer of applications use secure RESTful APIs in our Engine, to let consumers use smartphones to interact directly with bottles as part of a brand campaign.

There are multiple applications for the technology. The “Personalisation” module allows consumers to customize messages and attach them to the bottle – turning the bottle into a unique gift for annual gifting occasions. The “Loyalty” application rewards consumers for their participation in a campaign and engagement with the brand over time.

The first deployment of +more was a marketing campaign last summer in Brazil using the Personalisation app. The campaign keyed into the insight that sons find it harder to express their feelings towards Dad. So finding a way to say, “I love you” on Father’s Day can be tough. Diageo positioned whisky as the conduit to celebrate fatherhood by connecting 100,000 physical bottles to the Web, so they could carry a special, one-to-one digital video message to Dad. Bringing theatre and emotion back into the act of giving, helping sons and dads to connect, and transforming a generic product into a one-of-a-kind gift.

+more has the potential to be game-changing technology for Diageo. While the platform is still in the early stages, the intention is to scale the technology cross-brand and cross-market.

+more Father’s Day is part of a larger global rollout through Latin America and Australia this year. The Personalisation app will also be leveraged against other occasions like Mother’s Day and Graduation, across other brand portfolios. +more will deploy its first Loyalty application live in market in June 2013. Essentially a membership scheme, the campaign will encourage consumers to earn rewards for engaging with Diageo brands.

The Loyalty pilot is expected to be highly relevant in leveraging +more to address a critical global challenge. As regulatory pressures increase around the world on alcohol advertising, the emergence of ‘dark markets’ is challenging how brands can create saliency and develop ongoing relationships with consumers. +more will position Diageo’s bottles as a key media channel and entry point into permission-based marketing in these markets.

The ultimate ambition is to make every Diageo bottle smart with +more, turning every one of the two billion bottles it makes every year into a direct, global channel to engage consumers one-to-one at point of sale.