Differentiating and constructing a model via an AR recreation
When KPO, a regional cooperative working in Western Finland and a part of the S Group, and its companion company, Daddy Finland, searched for brand new methods to boost the in-store expertise of customer-owners, they got here up with an idea that does way more.
An AR-enhanced recreation aimed toward kids and their households drastically succeeded in 2021. In the summertime of 2024, the marketing campaign sees a brand new daybreak in KPO’s inns.
Initially developed in 2021, the sport was created as a part of KPO’s one hundred and fifteenth anniversary celebration marketing campaign.
“The unique marketing campaign was created to enhance our shops’ model picture amongst households with kids. The secondary goal was to draw kids and their households to our shops — Prismas, S Markets, and Gross sales. However extra essential had been our branding objectives,” KPO’s Director, Communications and Buyer Relationships, Mikko Keskinen briefs the marketing campaign.
The AR recreation was a part of a broader technique to keep up a constructive model picture and allow pleasant buyer experiences, notably for households with kids. Augmented actuality gives a contemporary, participating approach to differentiate from opponents and add worth to prospects.
“One in all our preliminary concepts was an in-store gaming exercise known as Hauska Hahmojahti (Enjoyable Character Hunt). The quirky animated characters we produced delighted everybody throughout testing, so the sport idea was rapidly finalised,” Daddy Finland’s Companion and Entrepreneur Marco Pajari says.
Built-in branding and advertising – enhanced with immersive know-how.
It’s difficult to face out and entertain in an in-store setting with a dense communication panorama. A retailer’s each day operations restrict the actions the house can accommodate or how shops might be embellished.
“When a buyer’s native retailer is remodeled right into a digital recreation house, familiarity and the ingredient of shock collectively allow making a extra memorable emotional connection, and extra time is spent with the model,” Pajari explains.
The sport’s initiative is to gather 5 AR characters, which might come to life and dance when scanned with a cell phone’s digital camera from stickers across the shops. Youngsters who accomplished the sport gained a free chocolate bar.
The marketing campaign was a powerful success, resonating with KPO’s viewers and resulting in hundreds of recreation completions.
“It was important for us that the sport launch as simply as doable — with no separate app. We selected to make use of augmented actuality as a result of it allowed us to create an interactive and interesting expertise for our prospects with out further know-how,” Keskinen describes.
“At Daddy, we had earlier expertise working with Arilyn, making the selection of a dependable AR know-how companion simple,” Pajari provides.
The idea was reintroduced in KPO’s Sokos inns throughout the summer season of 2024. The implementation was easy and efficient, making it simple for households to take part and enhancing their general lodge expertise. The AR recreation’s characters additionally span to the true world, for instance, as colouring photographs within the inns.
The lodge setting was a pure extension of the idea, as company have much more time and want to interact in actions in an experience-focused setting.
Constructing a model via enjoyable and thrilling experiences.
Staying nonetheless and being content material with the established order will slowly diminish a model’s credibility. Manufacturers should continually attempt to be and do higher.
“An AR-enhanced recreation is a wonderful method we will differentiate in a contemporary method – it is one thing that is not purely industrial however has a enterprise goal,” Keskinen states.
Immersive and gamified content material’s flexibility is a big benefit — the AR character hunt was simple to make alive once more three years later. It additionally works as a part of different advertising and branding efforts and enhances the analogical world. The reminiscence mark is extra substantial when repeating the message via totally different channels.
With its cheap price ticket and robust differentiation worth, the AR character hunt was seen as a strategic initiative that resonates with KPO’s goal group. It was a part of a set of objectives supporting KPO’s picture, each within the quick and long run. This marketing campaign was not only a one-off advertising effort however a strategic funding within the model and the connection with KPO’s prospects.
“A bigger XR revolution is now progressively taking place. Richer content material is optimally accessed first via headsets and later via glasses as a substitute of smartphones. This allows advertising campaigns which are extra entertaining, immersive and personalised than earlier than,” Pajari wonders about XR’s future use instances.
