MAD//Fest Innovation Pitch: Watch Diageo Choose Hashting To Help "Bridge Digital And Physical"

27 Aug, 2021

Building seamless customer journeys via WhatsApp and SMS proved to be the right tonic for drinks behemoth Diageo in a £20k MAD//Fest London pitch last month.

Diageo is to partner with mobile marketing software and coupon clearing platform and start-up Hashting to help fulfil the brand’s ambition to bridge the increasingly blurred world of the digital and the physical after a successful pitch at MAD//Fest London last month. 

Hashting will now have the chance to scale their business with Diageo through a £20k pilot pitch.

Diageo was looking to partner with a start-up that could help consumers connect digitally with their products, reward them, and also serve them relevant communications at the right time.  

Hashting’s solution is based on their platform which serves consumer journeys based on Whatsapp and SMS messages.

“We live and breath where the customer already spends most of their time”, said James Elsworth, General Manager, UK & Nordics for Hashting in the winning pitch.

Benni Lickfett, Diageo’s Global Head of Innovation loved their great and simple solution that consists of three straightforward steps - ‘connect, convert, and continue’. This ‘power of three’ proved to be the winning difference, as it will provide Diageo media attribution, proof of purchase and consumer data all in one place, tracked on a real-time dashboard.

Hosted by Diageo’s Benni Lickfett and Co:Cubed Founder and CEO Jeremy Basset, Hashting pitched against a strong line-up of start-ups featuring Number Eight, ODore, Knexus, Greenjinn, and Playrcart. Watch their winning pitch here.

You can watch all the MAD//Fest London action including the PITCH//IT sessions from M&S, Boots, Reckitt, Pizza Hut on our YouTube channel. Just select the ‘House of Innovation’ playlist for each day to catch all of the pitches.