Cyber Week Sale:

Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.

SUBSCRIBE

Billboard Rewards Real Music Fans

Billboard is bridging the digital and analog worlds with its latest marketing stunt.

With the help of Ogilvy & Mather Brazil, the music magazine publisher created a special magazine vending machine. The catch is that the machine only dispenses copies to actual fans of the cover artist. The machine, which is called “The Fan Check Machine,” checks users’ iPhones to see if they have more than 20 songs by the musician on the cover of the the current Billboard issue on their device to qualify as a real fan. If they meet the “real fan” criteria, the machine will dispense a copy of the magazine.

Downloading a branded app for a one-time experience is kind of annoying, but the best part of this campaign is that you don’t need an app. All you have to do is connect your smartphone directly to the vending machine.

See the machine in action:

More in Marketing

Behind the rise of the chief productivity officer and what it means for companies and employees

The CPO is envisioned as the leader who orchestrates people and technology together to drive business outcomes.

OpenX redraws the SSP-agency relationship

The gradual realignment of programmatic’s middlemen discussed at Digiday’s Programmatic Marketing Summit.

Omnicom’s reshuffled leadership emerges as the ad industry’s new power players

Omnicom’s Black Monday saw thousands of jobs cut, and a chosen few put in charge of what is now the world’s largest marketing services group. They face a number of challenges, however.