McDonald’s, Nestlé, Virgin Media enter blockchain media pilot

McDonald’s, Nestlé and Virgin Media have become the first companies to sign on with a blockchain pilot headed up by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (Jicwebs).

They will be joined by their respective media agencies (Zenith, OMD UK and Manning Gottlieb OMD), following calls by Jicwebs in May for the industry to join the project. The companies will participate in the trial during 2019, measuring the impact of blockchain solutions that provide “end-to-end supply chain transparency and clarity around advertising spend.”

Further stages of the trial will look to “optimise the supply chain and gain operational efficiencies for all involved.” Jicwebs has partnered with Fiducia for the initiative. If successful, the former will consult the industry on how best to roll it out by 2020.

Kat Howcroft, Senior Media and Budget Manager at McDonald’s, says: “This technology offers us the opportunity to see a truly transparent picture of our investment across the digital supply chain. We are also eager to understand the potential impact that this may have on our ROI and efficiency.”

Nestlé

Earlier this month, we reported that Nestlé had announced plans to track its products along the supply chain with blockchain technology.

It is working on this with OpenSC, a blockchain platform founded by WWF-Australia and The Boston Consulting Group Digital Ventures. A pilot will trace milk from farms and producers in New Zealand to Nestlé factories and warehouses in the Middle East. The technology will later be tested with palm oil sourced in the Americas.

Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President, Head of Operations, Nestlé, says: “We want our consumers to make an informed decision on their choice of products – to choose products produced responsibly. Open blockchain technology might allow us to share reliable information with consumers in an accessible way.”

The company has been testing out blockchain technology since 2017, most notably with IBM Food Trust. In April, it gave consumers access to blockchain data for the first time, through Mousline purée in France.