Excuse Me Waiter, there is GPS in My Soap!

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/l4ieZ)
In conjunction with Bullet marketing agency, Unilever Co. has devised a marketing campaign that is bound to draw a lot of mixed feelings. The company will track fifty consumers who purchase Unilever’s Omo brand laundry detergent using GPS tracking devices that have been placed inside of select packages. While some view this GPS tactic as a clever way to conduct marketing research, others argue that tracking customers borders on an invasion of privacy.

The idea behind the GPS tracking campaign is to follow certain consumers from the time a box of Omo has been removed from a store shelf to a person’s home. Unilever has placed various team members throughout Brazil who will actively track select consumers. Once a Unilever team has reached a consumer’s home, an unsuspecting person will be presented with a video camera and various entertainment events planned by the company.

In addition to tracking a person to his or her home, Unilever will post the whereabouts of those who have been chosen on the Internet. This will allow the general public to follow each consumer as a box of Omo is selected and carried to a person’s house. Unilever devised this marketing campaign as a fun way for consumers to win prizes, though some people aren’t thrilled about the idea of being tracked. Critics of the marketing plan have pointed out that most people don’t head directly home from a supermarket. Many people make other stops along the way – stops that they may not want the public to know about.  Imagine Lucy and Ethel discovering there was a ringing in their box of laundry soap!  Another hilarious TV moment would emerge.  Makes you smile just thinking about it!

Another criticism of the Unilever giveaway plan is that Brazil has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Presumably, most people who live in large Brazilian cities would not open their doors to a group of people claiming to offer a Unilever prize. However, it seems as though the marketing team that devised this GPS tracking plan has already thought of Brazil’s high murder rate. Each box of Omo soap that has a GPS tracker inside of it also has an alarm that can be activated by team members if a consumer refuses to open the door.

Unilever believes that this alarm will prevent consumers from distrusting Unilever team members, though some believe that a ringing soap box may cause additional panic. Unilever has also placed a note inside of each detergent box explaining the promotion. Unilever’s GPS tracking campaign will cost the company close to one million dollars – an expense that Unilever believes will pay off. Marketers worldwide wait to see whether Unilever’s innovative use of GPS tracking technology is viewed by consumers as innovative or simply invasive.  In the meantime, they are enjoying quite a lot of free press!

(Source acquired via Inventor Spot, August 5, 2010, Brazil – Written by Harriette Halepis for Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc.)