Shopping centres are a crucial part of getting ready for the holiday season. They offer not only a place to get all the necessities but also inspiration and sometimes even fun surprises!
Citycon is the leading owner, manager, and developer of mixed-use centres for urban living in the Nordics and Baltics. Citycon shopping centres surprised their visitors in 33 shopping centres in 4 countries with an augmented reality adventure in December 2021.
Citycon is committed to developing cosy and versatile meeting places that gather together everything a person might need - from grocery to culture and from work to free-time activities.
In the centre of Citycon's mission is dialogue and collaboration between its audiences and target groups and to inspire people to be active and get involved.
To embrace this idea, Citycon has this holiday season taken on augmented reality. 33 shopping centres in Finland, Norway, Denmark and Estonia offer their visitors a fun minigame to play while doing their holiday shopping.
Raising the Holiday spirit through augmented reality
Citycon's WebAR game features a Christmas tree that loses all its decorations to a hurricane. The sad Season's Spruce wants your help to save its holidays.
The game launches from QR codes placed in the selected shopping centres and progresses by scanning more codes. Once the visitor has scanned a QR code, holiday decorations start to spin around them. The player can collect all the missing pieces by tapping them on their mobile device's screen.
The game runs through the user's mobile device's browser, making it more accessible than one requiring an app - no downloads or installs.
Citycon's AR game was built upon the shopping centres' 2021 holiday season's visuality. The AR content supports other elements that create the whole holiday spirit.
Gamified WebAR experience attracts and engages
Citycon's WebAR game helps the shopping centres to delight their audiences easily. The experience is accessible because it is browser-based, and the game is simple enough for the users to stay engaged. The game also has several levels, attracting the customers to return to the shopping centres and spend more time in them.
In times of social distancing and restrictions on getting together, it is difficult for shopping centres to offer entertainment and activities for their visitors.
"An AR game is a great solution to give people some extra feeling and joy whilst keeping them safe," Marketing and Communication Manager of Citycon Oyj, Baltic operations, Kelly Treu, said.
WebAR is a great tool to increase the customer flow to physical spaces and add value to those already there.
Check the first level of Citycon's AR Holiday game here:
