Life nowadays is filled with all sorts of needs and hopes. No one knows this better than Ari. Luckily, there is a secret aid to meet all of his wishes.
The Finnish hypermarket K-Citymarket launched a campaign to make the everyday struggles of Finnish families more easily overcome. Every challenge can be handled with Citymarket - and Ari.
| Client | K-Citymarket |
| Agency | TBWA\Helsinki |
| XR Production | Arilyn |
As a part of the campaign, the 80 Citymarket stores all around Finland featured an augmented reality mobile game, Help Ari. The goal was to help Ari to collect his groceries into a shopping bag. Every player who helped Ari so much that they found themselves in the top-ten leaderboard could participate in a sweepstake of gift cards worth 100€.
The Help Ari AR game was created as a part of K-Citymarket's new marketing concept and launched at the hypermarket's Children's Day event.
The objective of the mobile AR game is to make grocery shopping a pleasant experience for the whole family, as well as to show the new marketing concept in a fun and interesting way.
The game launches from a QR code printed on floor stickers and standing signs placed around the hypermarkets. It runs through the players' mobile device's browser - no need for app downloads or registrations.
"The game was simple enough, yet engaging and attracting K-Citymarket's clients to return over and over again. Together with the agency TBWA, Arilyn created content that aligns with our goals", Kesko's Senior Marketing Manager Henrik Wahlfors says.
In-store activations are great for making the time customers spend inside a store memorable and pleasurable.
"Even with e-commerce becoming more popular, people still visit physical stores every day. With XR, brands can interact with their clients in new ways. These experiential implementations bring ease and entertainment to people's lives", TBWA's Account Director Petra Yli-Hemminki says.
In K-Citymarket's case, the mobile game extends the story of Citymarket and Ari taking care of all everyday hassles families might have - even grocery shopping can be a delightful experience.
"AR and XR work fantastically in improving the in-store experience, especially for families with children. As long as the idea and content are in line with the brand and business goals, they work well in enhancing the store's services", Kesko's Wahlfors says.
TBWA's Yli-Hemminki agrees: "Customers are looking for more experiential ways of life and to consume. The new technologies enable more immersive ways to connect with clients, and their usage will undoubtedly increase."
In a world full of noise and shopping full of hassle, XR experiences offer a break and bring back the focus. They extend the brand's narrative into a dimension where clients are a part of that story.