There is just no stopping Oreo. In its latest claim to fame, the cookie brand is taking on the universe with a star chart messaging app called Oreo Skies. Putting its own twist on traditional mobile messaging, Oreo has partnered with Nokia to develop the Smartphone app, which is designed to connect people through the stars.
There is just no stopping Oreo. In its latest claim to fame, the cookie brand is taking on the universe with a star chart messaging app called Oreo Skies. Putting its own twist on traditional mobile messaging, Oreo has partnered with Nokia to develop the Smartphone app, which is designed to connect people through the stars.
Using augmented reality technology, the Oreo Skies mobile app allows users to write messages and attach them to actual constellations revealed in the app. At present, it is only available on a Nokia Lumia Windows Smartphone.
“The Mondelez International Mobile Innovation Lab with Nokia is a key component of our mobile strategy, together with our incubation program, Mobile Futures,” says Bonin Bough, vice president for global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez International.
“It is meant to be an experimentation lab aimed at pushing the envelope of technology and reinventing mobile experiences. Over the past year, we’ve been exploring different brands and platforms and we’re excited to launch the Oreo Skies app into the marketplace as a result of the partnership,” he adds.
To use the app, users point their Smartphones at the sky, no matter what time of day or night, and explore a map of the stars and constellations. When they touch a star in a constellation, it twists open like an Oreo cookie to reveal a message left for one or more friends. Users can search the Oreo Skies’ universe for specific stars, and friends can retrieve their message by following a compass in the upper-right corner of the display.
In addition to messages from friends, users can uncover messages from the Oreo brand. While browsing the skies, app users will periodically see shooting stars cross their screens, which carry special offers, recipes or incentives. Fans can also access celestial facts and video content direct from famed astrophysicist Dr Robert Kirshner, Clowes professor of Science at Harvard University.
The person who sends the most messages during a lunar cycle (every 30 days) will “own the moon” for the next lunar cycle and can place a special message on the moon for all users of the Oreo Skies universe to see. A leaderboard will track all users in real time.
Oreo fans that don’t have a Nokia Lumia Windows Smartphone can still participate in the skywriting through the global Oreo Facebook community, which currently consists of around 31 million fans. Fans can message each other through a mobile or desktop version of the application on Facebook and follow the leader board.
Nokia teamed up with Oreo in early 2012 as part of the Mondelez International Mobile Innovation Lab.
