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Listerine?s new app gleams with smile detectors for the blind

Johnson & Johnson?s Listerine brand is rolling out a new mobile application that enables blind people to ?feel? when a person is smiling by tapping facial recognition technology, underscoring the opportunities for consumer packaged goods brands on mobile.

The Listerine Smile Detector app uses consumers? smartphone cameras to notify users when someone is smiling by playing a sound or vibrating the device. This provides an example of how CPG brands may leverage corporate social responsibility on mobile by introducing an app with a genuine agenda that is also in line with their repertoire of products.

?For a category that?s diluted with clinical messaging, white lab coats, technical demos, and actors with unnaturally white teeth - it?s a breath of fresh air to see a leading brand break away from mouthwash-category norms,? said Lea Solimine, marketing manager at Flite, San Francisco. ?Listerine?s new app is an outstanding initiative by J&J to elevate the brand from their closest rivals - P&G and Colgate.

?The app itself (and the brand?s use of mobile & technology) is incredibly innovative and unique; and it brings substantial value and utility to those using it,? she said. ?From a communication perspective - it resonates.

?They?ve taken a simple, universal idea - a smile, which most of us take for granted, and turned it into something powerful.?

Mobile?s starring role
The mouthwash marketer teamed up with the JWT London agency to develop the app, which is being launched in Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa this week. Its creation is meant to support the rollout of Listerine?s new Advanced White product.

Listerine has dipped its toes into a plethora of digital tactics to support the launch, while keeping mobile front and center. Consumers with Android devices may download the Smile Detector from the Google Play store.

To use its functionality, users must select the front or rear-facing camera on their smartphones and point it at an individual. The app will then notify the user when he or she smiles by playing a default sound, or vibrating the device.

The number of smiles captured will be counted within the app, and icons at the bottom allow consumers to share their detected grins with friends and family via Twitter, Facebook and Google +.

Consumers who are interested in finding out more regarding Listerine?s products or investing in some mouthwash for future photo opportunities can also follow the in-app link to the brand?s site.

?It?s a great move for Listerine to align itself with such a great cause,? said Andrew Budkofsky, executive vice president of partnerships at Digital Trends, New York. ?This will provide a halo effect for the brand.

?I think it?s a genuine effort for Listerine to effectively utilize both its product and technology to help people in need.?

Listerine has previously leveraged mobile for educational opportunities related to corporate social responsibility initiatives.

In February, the marketer tapped social and mobile to motivate consumers to take up a 21-day challenge to use the mouthwash for a chance to win a slew of prizes while improving their oral health (see story).

Tying in digital
The agency behind the app also developed an emotive short film to accompany its release, showing viewers how it feels for a blind person to know when someone else is smiling. The short was directed by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker, and contains interviews with four blind people discussing the app?s meaning to them.

One featured woman claimed she would like to use the app on the London Tube, to determine if anyone actually smiles while taking public transportation.

Image recognition technology is also becoming a hot tool for many marketers to tap, due to the simplicity of snapping an image of a person or product and unlocking more mobile content.

In a reflection of the growing role that image recognition technology is playing in mobile shopping, visual product search company Slyce Inc. acquired mobile couponing firm SnipSnap for $6.5 million this past January (see story).

Nevertheless, the Smile Detector app will likely offer Listerine greater brand awareness, which may in return result in an uptick in sales.

?This effort will absolutely have an impact on sales,? Mr. Budkofsky said. ?Listerine plays in a market where product differentiation is a challenge, and as consumers are looking at making a choice among its competitive set, Listerine will win out as a result.?

Final Take
Alex Samuely, editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York