June – July 2013 first runner up: Pay With A Kiss
Client: Metro St James
Creative Agency: Lavender
Industry: FMCG
Campaign Information
Lavender’s objective was to make one small Sydney café famous. So, a unique currency that tapped into Metro St James cafe’s French influence let customers pay for their coffee by kissing each other.
Playing on the French nature of the café, Lavender wanted this currency to feel romantic so the idea had to be ownable and the challenge was to take a super small budget and make it something unforgettably big.
So, a YouTube viral video was created, a ‘Kiss Register’ app, allowing images of kissing couples to be shared on Facebook and Instagram instantly and an iconic photo recalling Robert Doisneau was created for outdoor and digital so the campaign had a face.
The YouTube video went viral, with over 800K YouTube views, it was published in over 140 news sites across 29 countries, over 23 TV and radio coverage (3-5 minutes segments), 2.41 million in earned media, a 120 to 1 return on media investment and there were 586,000 mentions on the internet.
Judge’s Comment
No plastic card. No paper card. No mobile. No Square. No PayPal. No Kaching. No NFC. No QR Code. Just lips. Kisses seem to be a legitimate new currency. Who would have thought. ‘Love’ it.
