• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 24, 2013

In an effort to promote its lipstick, luxury marketer Burberry has teamed up with Google’s Art, Copy & Code initiative to introduce “kiss recognition technology.”

Using either a desktop camera or a touchscreen, smooch-senders’ real kisses are captured and digitized. Senders enter the name, destination and email address of the person they want to receive their love letter, and then seal it with their own kiss. They then have the choice of using one of Burberry’s lipstick shades (or no color at all)  to seal their letter, and then send it off. Recipients can choose to share the letter, either on Google+ or other social networks.

After sending, the kisses are captured on a real-time interactive map, which allows viewers to watch them float around the world, and even see which cities are sending and receiving the most kisses.

The campaign, a partnership between Burberry’s creative team and Google, is an effort to form “an emotional connection between the Burberry brand and Millennial consumers, who easily tune out traditional fashion and beauty marketing,” the company explains in a brief on Google’s “Art, Copy & Code” Web site.

“Through the magic of modern browsers and display ad technologies, we’re able to deliver a beautiful experience to millions of people across the web,” explains Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief creative officer, in the brief. “Burberry Kisses doesn’t look or feel like a traditional ad, but instead, it’s a personal interaction that forges a deeper connection between users and the brand.”

The concept, while personal, is meant to “contribute to a broader story of the world’s love.”

While Burberry was launched back in 1856, it’s continually pioneered the digital fashion space. The London-based company says that with some 15 million fans, it is the most-followed luxury brand on Facebook, and it also claims to be the leading luxury brand on Instagram. And its autumn/winter ’13 fashion show was the first to be streamed live on Twitter. It also offers a “Runway made to order” program, where online fashion show viewers can order personalized versions of Burberry products.