RA Hugo Boss Shopping Experience - UK

Augmented reality pioneers Total Immersion have come up trumps with their first ever UK shop front experience at Hugo Boss.

Located at Sloane Square, the ‘Black Magic’ experience has been created for Hugo Boss by London-based creative agency SimonandJohn in a bid to take window shopping to a whole new level. The installation was produced by UK firm, Crossplatform.

As part of the three week promotional campaign, shoppers can pick up special trigger cards to play a virtual game of blackjack in store for their chance to win up to £250 worth of Hugo Boss vouchers.

Myles Peyton of Total Immersion explains: “The AR experience was created around the concept of black magic to have synergy with the brand. It uses a deck of cards, which are shuffled to reveal a different card every time a new trigger card is used. Shoppers with the winning card are then able to collect their voucher to spend in store.

“AR takes traditional window shopping to a whole new level and is a unique way of increasing footfall and sales within the store”, he said. “Shop front displays can be gimmicky and uninspiring this time of year, but by giving customers a genuinely exciting brand experience, Hugo Boss are having a real impact.”

Part of the ‘Black Magic’ campaign includes a double page promotion in December week one issue of Stylist and Shortlist magazine, with a high value trigger card for readers to bring in store.

SimonandJohn creative agency, explain: “The Stylist and the Shortlist are both fast becoming the UK’s biggest free magazines. They are both written by a very impressive editorial team, so we embraced the opportunity to work exclusively with them on this project.

“I think it took us all by surprise the overwhelming positive response from their readers. They seem to relish the opportunity to interact with the technology and of course were hugely motivated by the chance of wining.

“Some people were so intrigued by the concept that the actual magazine itself could trigger the experience, that they came from North and South London in their lunch breaks to try their luck.”

The Black Magic installation is live for three weeks until December 20th, and includes AR displays both inside and outside of the store, where shoppers can use their trigger cards to view interactive footage of Hugo Boss catwalk shows.

Myles adds: “This is our first major shop window installation in the UK and our second retail campaign, following on from the success of our augmented reality exhibition to launch the Nokia N97 earlier this year.

“We are already in talks with other global retailers to launch similar installations in 2010 – some of these campaigns will be rolled out across store chains nationally,” he said.

“The fact that brands are investing this much money in AR, especially during a recession, shows what a powerful tool AR has become in global retail marketing,” Myles adds.

Nick Brown from Crossplatform, said: “The ‘Black Magic’ campaign is truly interactive and multiplatform, engaging consumers initially both at retail level and through magazines before inviting them back to the store for delivery of the final competition. In this scenario it is critical that the technology is seamless and fully harnesses the client’s creative objectives. We are delighted to have helped SimonandJohn realise their vision.”

Simonandjohn is a boutique creative agency on the edge of Soho. Spearheaded by a creative duo whose experience in retail, manufacturing and brand consultancy have created a unique process called ‘think and make’ to create a higher value offering for their clients.

They call themselves ‘restless inventors’ with a passion for identifying emerging and progressive trends to help stay ahead of the ever more informed and savvy consumer. The agency creates ‘experiences’ using traditional and non-traditional media in an attempt to drive one of their main objectives in 2010; getting people back on the high street.

Crossplatform delivers technology that unites consumers through Web 2.0, mobile telephony, interactive television and outdoor advertising. Specialists in IPTV, augmented reality and content to mobile, Crossplatform’s objective is to help clients communicate with consumers in the right place and at a time of their choosing. Crossplatform is a privately owned company with sales and technical operations in the United Kingdom, India and Australia.