AR Game Campaign, but for Gen Alpha!
If you're a parent of a 4 to 12-year-old kid living in Dhaka, and your kid is like many others of their generation, growing up playing games and watching YouTube on their tablets or your phones, you've probably come across an AR Game campaign by Grameen Danone, the company that produces Shokti Doi and some other healthy snacks for kids.
I have seen people talking about this particular campaign in groups or discussing it in their workplaces. The central piece of this campaign, the AR Game itself, has been co-created by us - YRVR (a New Vertical of Yellow Raptor that focuses on Immersive Experiences) in collaboration with Dark Kak and Engage Engine.
At the Kids Time Fair
Kids are enjoying the AR games and interacting with the virtual objects through gestures and movements.
Game 1: AR Game, Launched on Facebook
The player has to tap on the screen to start the game and then open their mouths and move their heads to eat healthy snacks, such as Shokti Products, to get points and avoid eating unhealthy food such as regular chips and burgers. If they mistakenly eat unhealthy food, points will be deducted. If your score is above 100, and if you submit the screenshot of your score, you get a chance to win a gift from Grameen Danone.
Game 2: AR Game, on a kiosk
This game incorporates the Shokti Lion mascot, which is a human-like teenage lion wearing a Bangladesh-colored T-shirt with a lightning symbol on its chest. The 3D mascot was developed by us, based on the 2D version that they gave us.
In this game, the 3D lion runs forward to catch the right food for the right hint. The screen shows the benefits of healthy food, and you must pick the right food that aligns with those health benefits. The player needs to use hand gestures to catch the food.
AR/VR isn't really a new technology; I'm sure we are not the first company in Bangladesh to do it. We might even be too late to the party. Then why is this campaign a topic of discussion? I could think of a few things that make this campaign so special.
1. A campaign for Gen Alpha:
It's a campaign that directly targets the next generation brand tribe - Gen Alpha. I remember growing up watching Meena - which is basically a story-based awareness campaign by Unicef. The messages in that cartoon series were clear yet not forced. Kids at that time watched cartoons on TV, so it made a lot of sense to broadcast a well-written cartoon series created by a group of talented people, with a few points to be communicated to the audience. The time slot for that TV Show was well-thought-out too. That campaign is still relevant as a Solid Case Study for Marketing and Placement related ideas, especially for awareness campaigns.
Similarly, the Grameen Danone campaign targets the kids directly through a medium that they're familiar with - Games. This time, the games are interactive, immersive, which teach them a thing or two about eating healthy without being too direct. They open their mouths or use hand gestures to play the games, engaging them physically instead of just looking at the screen.
2. Offline+Online:
One of these games (Game 1) was promoted as part of the online campaign, and both of them were available to play at a physical event called Kids Time Fair at Shishu Academy. Today's (Sunday) the last day of that fair; if you have no jobs and still have kids, you can go to that fair; I'm sure your kids will love it.
The games are part of an extended universe of characters, merchandise, magic shows, fun activities, awards, and rewards giving, and good food that their parents would approve. Just the games wouldn't be as compelling as making them a part of a 360-degree campaign that engages them on a much deeper level.
3. Fictional Universe:
Goofi, ToguMogu, and other ventures of Light of Hope have already created the foundation for such advanced campaigns to exist. Usually, whenever we want to create something groundbreaking in Bangladesh, we realize that there needs to be a solid foundation of associated platforms, culture, willingness, investments, efforts, and a pre-existing ecosystem and infrastructure to facilitate the existence of something cutting edge. This event didn't just use some downloaded images of Mickey Mouse and Pikachu, violating the Copyright Laws - as we usually see in Bangladeshi events for kids; the entire event was decorated by characters and narratives of proprietary brand assets, created by the companies participating in this fair. Being a cartoonist myself (I have co-created a comic book called Gunda-Panda, which was well-received among the kids I know, also worked as a cartoonist for 7-8 years at Prothom Alo as a kid), I think I have an understanding of how these fictional characters and universes play a big role in selling products, services, or ideas.
This campaign is in many ways a proper campaign with powerful collaborations, the right kind of focus, appropriate timing, and placements seem appropriate, and the organizers seem like the right kind of candidates to pull off an event like this. The kids attending such events will have a very different idea of how powerful and empowering these Bangladeshi platforms can be. Platforms usually want to become 'Lovemarks' - super evolved brands with a deep emotional connection with its audience. This process should start from the first exposures of the audiences with the brands.
This is just a start though. There's a long way to go for Bangladesh in terms of storytelling, character-building, and creating engaging and immersive experiences that truly work.
