Knight Frank property management put their marketing plan on ice.
Story: Christopher Holder
Shopping centre managers are always looking for something to pull a crowd. Popups have been around way longer than the term ‘popup’ itself and serve to keep things fresh. Popup stores, face-painting, personal appearances, fashion shows, talent quests… shopping mall public spaces are increasingly becoming entertainment venues that get shoppers out of the beanbag, off eBay and into the real world of brick ’n’ mortar retail.
Now you can add popup digital signage to the list of attractions.
Knight Frank, which manages independent retail property Market Square Shopping Centre, in Geelong, embarked on an ambitious digital initiative to drive more foot and digital traffic. ‘Chill Out With Us’, a free interactive Antarctic-themed experience, featured the area’s first ever use of augmented reality technology, allowing customers to interact with orca whales, ever-popular penguins and a friendly seal — all while standing on an ice-shelf and surrounded by icebergs in the middle of the shopping Centre.
The technology, designed and implemented by augmented reality specialist, Interactivity, proved to be popular with old and young alike who could interact in the Antarctic environment and then choose to capture their memories on screen. Photos were automatically uploaded to the Market Square’s Facebook page to encourage visitation.
AUGMENTED REALITY
After many years papping celebs and royals, you might have thought that Geelong’s rockstar mayor, Darryn Lyons, had seen it all. Apparently not. He and the city council were sufficiently impressed by Chill Out With Us that they used the install for the launch of the ‘After Dark’ arts and culture celebrations. Complete with a live ice sculptor (who carved a penguin), a piper and the centrepiece augmented reality, large crowds attended the council’s launch. It goes to show that the imaginative use of digital signage can indeed create a stir and raise profile.
“We had two goals for the execution,” Marketing Manager, Sarla Holmes, noted: “To increase centre pedestrian traffic; and to foster engagement by providing quality digital interactions. Chill Out With Us was an outstanding success in both regards. Not only did we see a 5%-plus increase in pedestrian traffic on the launch day, there was a 2% increase for the month compared to May 2014. From a digital perspective we were delighted by the increase in web traffic, while key Facebook and Twitter metrics also demonstrated how engaged people were with the initiative.”
HOW IT WORKS
The Chill Out With Us activation had instant appeal — throughout the month-long residency there was always some kind of queue waiting to have a go. Much more than a 2×2 video wall, the integrator, Interactivity, also supplied supporting structures, such as icebergs (constructed from super-high-density foam) and ‘ice shelf’ flooring.
After entering the Chill Out ‘zone’, visitors are immediately transported into an Antarctic scene, with (virtual) water lapping at their feet.
A selection of emperor and fairy penguins gambol around you. You can pat the penguins and they will follow you if you move to the right or left. The penguins not getting tickled under the chin will skate and slide into the ocean. Seals will also periodically jump in and out of the water. Orcas (killer whales) round out the Chill Out crew.
As many as six people can interact with the scene at once (the constraints of the Kinect camera).
Interactivity’s Projects Director Maddi Goricane enjoyed the project: “It’s been great fun. And augmented reality activations have to be: they’re intentionally a little bit tacky and light hearted – just a bit of fun really.”
Where it got serious was when Maddi showed management how Chill Out could be leveraged to drive social media traffic.
After you interact with the Antarctic fauna you can lift your arms to activate the camera and have your photo uploaded to the shopping centre’s Facebook page. It was a stroke of genius and really drove engagement.
BREAK WITH TRADITION
The Knight Frank marketing team were savvy enough to realise the Chill Out With Us popup wasn’t going to be enough in and of itself to attain the results they required. They backed it up with more traditional marketing which included door and floor decals, printed posters throughout the centre and table talkers on food court tables. The campaign was also strongly supported by digital advertising through all social channels, EDMs, website advertising and SMS messaging. A 15-second promotional video was developed on the launch day and posted three days later on Market Square’s Facebook page and received more than 10,000 views within the week. In other words, the signage was the main act but only reached its full potential thanks to a full supporting cast of old-school and digital marketing initiatives.
Market Square: www.marketsquaregeelong.com.au
Interactivity: 1300 797 199 or www.interactivity.com.au