Yili x Xiaomi's Smart Vending Machine

Challenge

As Asia’s largest diary brand, Yili is committed to delivering healthy and nutritious dairy products to consumers across the region. In China, the pandemic saw nearly three quarters of adults eating healthier with unprecedented research into finding the right healthy products for their individual needs.  

However, within China’s fiercely competitive dairy industry, there are numerous milk products on the market, each catering to different consumer and nutritional needs. As a result, today, more so than any other time, consumers are left confused as to which product is best suited to their needs.   

China’s dairy giant, Yili, wanted to trial a new, scientific way of delivering Chinese consumers their optimal beverage from its huge array of drinks, based on a consumer’s body stats, driving brand differentiation and enhancing its brand image.  

 

Strategy

To succeed in its goal of scientifically delivering Chinese consumers their optimal beverage based on their body’s needs, Yili partnered with popular technology company Xiaomi to harness the tech company’s smart watch technology. In China, Xiaomi’s wearable ‘Mi Watch’ outsells Apple’s Apple Watch.   

In partnership, Yili and Xiaomi created the Yili Smart Vending Machine.   

 

Execution

As a consumer approached Yili’s Smart Vending Machine, the device registered and analyzed a consumers’ body data from their Mi Watch – from BMI, and heart rate, to activity and sleep levels.   

Based on this information, the machine then dispensed the right one of Yili’s products to the right person.   

For example:   

– Consumers with low exercise performance and poor sleep quality would be served Yili’s Skim Milk product（伊利脱脂奶）  

– Consumers with stronger exercise performance and good sleep quality would be served Yili’s High Calcium Milk product（伊利高钙奶）  

– Consumers with average exercise performance yet lack sleep would be served Yili Zhennong – a milk product with higher protein content（伊利臻浓）  

– While consumers with lower exercise performance but good sleep quality would be served Yili Pure Milk（伊利纯牛奶）  

The Mi Watch user was also able to access Yili beverage suggestions directly from their watch, as well as information on where to purchase it, driving consumers from above the line to below the line.  

After creating the Yili Smart Vending Machine, Yili launched its innovative new Smart Vending Machine at the Wuzhen Internet Conference where it gained mass PR attention across China’s leading social platforms, Weibo, Douyin and WeChat.   

Next, Yili launched its first-ever live pilot Smart Vending Machine at Beijing’s popular Wumei Supermarket.  

To amplify buzz and drive consumers to go test the first Smart Vending Machine in store, Yili partnered with 10 celebrities and KOLs, including Yangming and Shentao, and seeded content on social under the banner ‘drink milk scientifically’, demonstrating to consumers. how to find the right Yili product using the machine.   

 

Results

Thanks to this first-in-kind Smart Vending Machine, Yili was able to cement its place as not only China’s largest dairy brand, but also its most innovative.   

Over 60,000 consumers went to the single Wumei Supermarket store in just 14 days to try the Smart Vending Machine.   

Over 343 million impressions under the ‘Drink Milk Scientifically’ slogan were generated, with 3 million views on short-video app, Douyin, alone.   

As a result, this campaign’s success has fueled Yili’s ambitions as a future smart city partner.