After a summer of semi-freedom, the rainy week and the impending coolness seem to want to lock us in the house again and deprive us of one of the most convivial moments: after dinner with friends at the bar, in the company of the perfect drink.

To fill this void, Pierce (part of Omnicom Experiential Group), in collaboration with the startup Barsy, has produced a limited edition kit for the Tequila Patrón brand: the Smart Coaster Kit.

The Smart Coaster Kit is a preparation kit for the Margarita cocktail that includes a smart coaster. By connecting it to a smartphone and following the instructions of the dedicated app, you can prepare a perfect Margarita at home, just like at the bar.

Each kit contains two Patrón Margarita glasses, a salt rimmer, a lime squeezer, and a shaker, obviously together with the smart coaster. In addition to the kit, the Patrón website offers a video tutorial on how to prepare different variations of the cocktail, as well as the opportunity to purchase a bottle of the product.

The opportunities

We are now accustomed to a daily life in which technology is present in many interactions, so in the immediate future we expect that people will not reflexively seek only experiences focused on comfort and nostalgia, as instead happened with the boom in baking bread (and pizza, ed.) at home during the last lockdown.

In this “new normal”, we can expect a shift towards experiences that:

Incorporate the use of smart technologies at low costs: not all technological devices have to be bulky or expensive; developing limited edition devices is an opportunity for brands to generate hype and draw the public’s attention to themselves with a veil of exclusivity. Furthermore, a launch of this type can act as a beta test, to understand if there is the margin and potential for large-scale production in the future.

They create new opportunities to use the product at home: In-store product trials and the like may not be possible in the short to medium term, but there will always be an audience that will seek to broaden their horizons, try new things and, in this time of Covid, find variety and fun outside of the daily routine.

They transform homes into canvases for different experiences: As previously mentioned, many people will find themselves at home much more often than away in the short to medium term. This will make them eager to have new experiences beyond binge-watching on Netflix and working from home. These experiences could range from entertainment to family activities to self-improvement: people worldwide have already seen first-hand how we can use home and technology together in creative ways, and many more opportunities are yet to be realized.