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Vodafone UK using blockchain for Apple product giveaways

Vodafone prize

Vodafone UK is running an interactive campaign to give away the recently released iPhone 11. The company has launched a blockchain-enabled AR game, Find Unlimited, with startup BLOCKv.

Remember Pokemon Go? Find Unlimited is similar to it in that the user has to explore the city of London for the chance to win Apple prizes. The difference is the items that a user collects will be unique with a blockchain recording the ownership.

The company said it had dropped about 36 AR ‘Vatoms’ equally distributed across six busy locations in Central London. Each user can interact with a Vatom only once. The game is playable by anyone only for two hours during the day, but Vodafone customers get a head start with clues of locations of the Vatoms.

Vatoms are nonfungible tokens, generated by blockchain startup BLOCKv’s platform and stored over its blockchain network. The tokens are unique to each user and can be represented by digital objects.

Incentivizing consumer engagement is at the forefront of blockchain in media. Last month, ad tech firm Vatom Labs announced a partnership with U.S. beer brand Miller Lite for introducing Vatoms for prize giveaways. Vatom Labs is a partner firm of BLOCKv focused on the adoption of the tokens. Vatom tokens have also been previously used by Heineken, Sony Pictures, and Fjallraven to drive customer engagement, reported The Merkle.

This is more common in the sports industry, where all fans cannot be physically present for a game. Yesterday media giant Havas announced it had adopted blockchain for fan engagement. Cryptokitties creator Dapper Labs announced a blockchain collectibles app with the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Meanwhile, Socios.com has signed several premier football clubs and is developing ‘Fan Tokens’ for them. In the U.K., rival blockchain collectible startup Fantastec has signed Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Borussia Dortmund for its SWAP game.


Image Copyright: Vodafone UK