Connected wine: Californian brand partners SharpEnd and Guala Closures for US-first large-scale NFC deployment

06 Aug 2019 --- Californian wine brand Böen, part of Copper Cane Wines & Provisions by Joseph Wagner, has become the first wine brand in the US to deploy full-scale, Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology. This new technology, developed by technological visionaries SharpEnd – The Agency of Things and Guala Closures, provides consumers with instant access to information about the wine they are purchasing simply by tapping the bottle’s cap with their smartphone. This is achieved through e-WAK, Guala Closures’ award-winning, industry-first NFC-integrated aluminum closure for wine.

On August 1, Böen NFC-connected bottles were released across the US, offering consumers an insight into the Böen vineyards with a tap of the Böen cap. Without the need to download an app, a portal is opened that takes consumers to Böen’s farmhouse where consumers can be educated about where and how their wine was made, offering food pairings and a central place for fans to share their own experiences with Böen within the platform and via social media.

The “tap-the-cap,” app-less format offers a frictionless experience, which gives people direct access to services that are relevant to their experience as a consumer. It also shows how the product can play the role of an always-on media platform, Cameron Worth, Founder of IoT agency SharpEnd, tells PackagingInsights.

Experts predicted that 2019 would witness the first large-scale deployments of NFC and other connective packaging technologies across multiple markets. The increased cost-effectiveness and standardization of connective mechanisms, notably NFC tags, means that brand owners are now able to integrate connective technologies in packaging onto existing production lines.

By scanning the cap, a portal is opened that takes consumers to Böen’s farmhouse for an educational experience.Cameron Worth, Founder of IoT agency SharpEnd, told PackagingInsights in February that NFC in particular would experience large-scale deployments this year after a period of restricted brand trials. SharpEnd was integral in the Böen NFC launch, implementing Guala Closures’ e-WAK technology into the wine cap.

“From our own experience we see that brands are more willing to commit to NFC deployments at scale because there is greater evidence (from across their own industries and adjacent ones) that there are clear business benefits on offer. These include new purchase insights, access to previously unavailable consumer data and increased brand loyalty,” Worth explains.

“Through our own work, for the likes of Pernod Ricard, Nestlé and Estée Lauder, we see how brands across different sectors are showing a growing interest in IoT-led, connected solutions.”

“Over the past four years NFC technology, and connected packaging generally, has become a seamless part of the connected ecosystem. Consumers are becoming familiar with NFC technology thanks to a wider ‘tap to’ ecosystem that includes payments, transport and access control,” he adds.

Böen is a creation of fifth-generation winemaker Joseph Wagner, who has put innovation at the heart of the winemaking process. Böen currently has five wines available: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made from a blend of grapes from Sonoma, Monterey, and Santa Barbara counties (SRP: US$24.99 each), as well as appellation-specific editions of Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Maria Valley and Russian River Valley (SRP: US$34.99 each).

The connected bottles being rolled out by Böen are very much part of a longer-term connected strategy for the brand, Worth notes. “SharpEnd is proud to support them as a ‘lighthouse brand’ for the wine industry – one which will prompt the entire category to rethink their approach to consumer engagement,” he says.Cameron Worth, Founder of SharpEnd IoT agency

“As the space matures, and the SharpEnd team has grown, the agency has taken on a wider mission to transform the real world into a connected platform. This means that we are working with ambitious, big name brands to explore broader connected retail solutions. These will encompass everything from AR at PoS to facial recognition in hotels. There is more to come in the future,” Worth promises.

Also in the connective packaging space, Malibu incorporated NFC technology into its beverage bottle caps in collaboration with Guala Closures for the Malibu Games 2019. The rollout of 300,000 bottles with connected closures offered a novel consumer experience by giving users access to value-added extras such as drinks recipes and sweepstake competitions.

Similarly, single malt Scotch brand The Balvenie launched NFC-enabled bottles in collaboration with London-based studio Here Design, which expose consumers to storytelling artwork when scanned by a smartphone.

Meanwhile, Danone’s Spanish natural mineral water brand Font Vella introduced a cap device that tracks water intake and instructs people toward adequate hydration. Coach20 is being developed in partnership with smart packaging start-up water.io.

By Joshua Poole