CASE STUDY: AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) SANTA APP FOR TABLE BAY MALL
Scope: Strategy, Implementation, Development, Design, PR, Execution & Reporting
Overview
Table Bay Mall quickly cemented itself as being ahead of its competitors in Cape Town. Known for their life-sized digital screens around the lift lobbies, a mobile application for the festive season felt like a natural move for this on-trend shopping centre.
During December 2018, Table Bay Mall launched not only their first festive campaign, but also a first for shopping malls in South Africa. From 1 to 31 December, shoppers at Table Bay Mall could experience augmented reality with Santa Claus through the Table Bay Mall Festive App.
The AR app received media attention from CapeTalk, Kfm 94.5, the Tygerburger Table View newspaper, SA Shopping Centre magazine and various online platforms equating to R242 338.00.
PROJECT DETAILS
Client: Table Bay Mall / Zenprop Property Holdings (Pty) Ltd.
Development Commencement: 16 October 2018
App Store Live Date: 30 November 2018
Campaign Commencement: 1 December 2018
Campaign Conclusion: 1 January 2019
Target: 1 000 app downloads / users – which was exceeded
Publicity Value Generated: R242 338.00
App Development Team: The Blue Room / Norbit Software
Artwork: The Blue Room / Norbit Software
Project Lead: Jono Duguid, The Blue Room
Campaign Coordinator & Executor: Adele Schultz, The Blue Room
Marketing Objectives & Strategy
1. To draw shoppers to the centre with an innovative augmented reality festive app that could only be used on the premises
2. To increase dwell time – customers could win shopping vouchers if they found eight scenes of sixteen 1.5m x 1.5m floor decals at different points around the centre
3. To increase engagement on digital platforms using the centre’s free Wi-Fi – an opt-in database was collected for marketing use
4. To positively influence shopping habits – strategically placed floor decals stickers would bring roaming shoppers into contact with the centre’s stores
Implementation & Tactics
The Table Bay Mall Festive App was available for download from iOS’ AppStore and Android’s Play Store. Roaming branded ambassadors and elves handed out candy canes while introducing and explaining the steps to shoppers. Once shoppers downloaded the application with the centre’s free Wi-Fi, they could aim their smart phone at one of the eight scenes of sixteen 1.5m x 1.5m floor decals and witnessed a digitally animated Santa come to life.
The floor decals were placed at strategic points around the mall. Shoppers could then take a photo of themselves in the animation, and share it with friends and family on social media. The excitement of this application increased dwell time and drew shoppers to all parts of the centre, creating exposure for tenants.
The app included a full store directory, push notifications about tenant holiday specials, sales, and information on other holiday activations, as well as the augmented reality Secret Santa game, which gave shoppers a chance to win their share of store vouchers valued at R4 000.
The comprehensive media and in-centre strategy offered insights into consumer behaviors, including dwell time and footprint, as well as assisted with increasing the marketing database in a POPI-compliant fashion.
Impact & Results
INCREASE ENGAGEMENT FOR DATABASE USE
By launching the first Festive App at Table Bay Mall, we achieved 1 007 new user downloads with 3 134 sessions.
INCREASE MALL TURNOVER GROWTH
By offering a free and innovative app to download, it created a desire to come have a look at the app which contributed to new customers and a month on increase on the mall turnover and an annual increase of 6.59%.
INCREASE NEW CUSTOMERS
A competition was running throughout the campaign where shoppers could win their share of store vouchers, valued at R4 000. They needed to locate all eight scenes of sixteen 1.5m x 1.5m floor decals around the mall and post the most creative photo on Facebook. For the length of the campaign, Table Bay Mall witnessed a month on month increase in new customers of 38.84% and 0.97% annual increase.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM INCREASE
By utilising the Facebook competition, we saw an annual increase of the 2 775 new followers. This is a 27% increase within the mall’s first year of operation.
