Iovate partners with Thinfilm to make sports nutrition products ‘tappable’

08-Mar-2018 - Last updated on 12-Mar-2018 at 16:43 GMT

When consumers tap their phones on the circular sticker on the bottom right corner using their phones, they can look at digital content as well as reorder products.

We know about tapping phone screens to reorder a product. What about tapping a product with our phone? Partnering with Norwegian tech firm Thinfilm, sports nutrition maker Iovate is betting on the platform.

Going beyond social media ads or ‘influencer’ endorsements, sports nutrition company Iovate is blurring the line between real life and the digital space with near field communication (NFC) through a partnership with Norwegian firm Thin Film Electronics, simply known as Thinfilm.

How the technology works: When an Iovate product embedded with Thinfilm’s NFC SpeedTap tag is tapped with a smartphone either in-store or at home, consumers can look at digital experiences like videos, recipes, how-to instructions, and instant product reordering at the palm of their hands.

As the magazine Fortune explained last year, products embedded with these tags can also be tracked from manufacturer through distribution to store shelves—even confirm if appropriate taxes have been paid on the purchase.

The tags will be on Iovate’s brands Six Star Pro Nutrition, Hydroxycut, MuscleTech, and Purely Inspired.

“Digital-savvy and mobile-first consumers make up a substantial percentage of our customer base, and we’re very eager to further connect with them post-purchase on their terms while delivering compelling digital content and relevant brand experiences,” said Brian Cavanaugh, chief marketing officer of Iovate.

“Thinfilm makes enhanced brand-to-consumer connections possible with a solution that’s easy to deploy and ideally suited for our customer base.”

According to a press release by Thinfilm, Iovate is the tech company’s first client in active nutrition, and it has exclusivity in the category following Iovate’s 7-figure unit order for the tags.

Iovate products are available worldwide in more than 140 countries, and are sold at Walmart, GNC, The Vitamin Shoppe, Bodybuilding.com, Target, Walgreen’s, CVS, Rite-Aid, Sam’s Club, Amazon.com, and other retailers.

“Iovate is a forward-thinking company in the fast-growing fitness and active nutrition market, and we’re excited to be working with them,” said Davor Sutija, CEO of Thinfilm.

“The industry-leading position they’ve attained in a very competitive space is impressive, and we look forward to helping them differentiate their brands even further through NFC mobile marketing.”