The innovation unit,\Pilot, of advertising agency,TBWA\Helsinki, has created a re-usable take-away coffee cup with a display screen that shows photos when coffee is poured into it.
Right now, the coffee cup developed for coffee roastery company, Paulig, is a novelty. But your brain is imagining a rather large collection of promotional and competition, social media, product information and third party advertising uses already, isn’t it?
The Paulig Muki (mug) converts heat to an aluminium component where a TEG-element converts it to electricity that’s used to power an e-paper display. Once the photo is uploaded, electricity is no longer needed, and the pimage remains on the screen. The technology isn’t new – it has already been used in e-book readers, but using it in coffee cups is new. The cup also contains a bluetooth low-energy module, placed in the bottom of the cup to connect with a mobile device. The module receives photos via a mobile app and the in-built heat sensor also reveals the temperature of the coffee. People can use an app to choose which photos to display and the cup can display a different photo (or moving image) each time coffee is poured into it.
“Coffee is a sociable drink by nature and take away culture is on the rise. As a small roastery based in Vuosaari, we wanted to find a way to put a new spin on the re-usable cups. We didn't want to tell the consumers how to use Paulig Muki, so we are developing it together with them,” said Karri Kauppila, Paulig’s head of marketing and communications.
“Paulig Muki placed us with the challenge of including technology into a coffee cup so that we could convert the heat energy into electricity, without compromising design. I believe we exceeded our expectations and found new ways to improve the overall experience in re-usable coffee cups. I am very proud of our team, Juha Matti Raunio, vice president of TBWA, added.
Before the cup hits the stores in the beginning of 2015, it will go into beta testing. Consumers have the opportunity to be the first to try out the innovation by applying on the Paulig Muki homepage. http://www.paulig.fi/kampanja/muki/index.php?lang=en The testing will be public and can be followed online.
Coffee roasting company, Paulig Ltd, was founded in 1876 in Finland and is still a family-owned business. It is the market leander in Finland and the Baltic countries, and in Russia it is the second-largest supplier of roasted coffee.
