#MobExAwards highlight: Yale infuses AR tech to lock in customer experience

Yale has been in the door and locks business for almost 180 years, available across 125 countries. Its smart home security portfolio includes products such as smart door locks, IP cameras, digital safes et cetera.

Traditionally, Yale sells via distributors and resellers. However, recognising the need for more experiential product display and dedicated service for consumers in today’s competitive environment, Yale established Yale Smart Shop using a direct-to-consumer business model. Its efforts nabbed it the bronze for the Best Use of Mobile Integration at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Mobex 2020.

Challenge

The target audience for the brand is generally tech-savvy Millennials aged 22 to 38 who are more receptible towards smart home products. A special focus was placed on “mothers and wives” who are traditionally believed to be the key family member most concerned about the family and children’s safety.

Strategy

The first Yale Smart Shop in Singapore officially opened on 30 December 2018. After an initial period of fine tuning the retail operations, a retail activation campaign was conceptualised to launch the shop officially.  The main goal was to stand out from the clutter of retail experiences and create a differentiated, personalised, and hands-on experience to engage and educate the audience about Yale smart products. Key objectives were to drive and build brand awareness and drive retail traffic.

The first step Infinity Core took to come up with the best solution was to understand the overall objective of the brand itself and understand Yale’s concept of “Security of me, my family, my home and my personal belongings”. This was also coupled with understanding the benefits of Yale smart home security solutions. This helped to develop the brand essence and communication approach for the new Yale Smart Shop.

A campaign called #takeiteasy was created to relate to the target audience, that in today’s stressful society, Yale can help its users take life a little easier without having to worry about security. It is an emotional message that highlights the key product benefits – convenient, hassle-free, and smart. The approach allows the audience who are not as well-versed with electronics to understand the message easily. This is to build a positive brand association.

The Yale Smart Shop #takeiteasy Activation Campaign was thus formed. It is an Augmented Reality (AR) experience in the Yale Smart Shop retail store itself that provides shoppers a novel and smart experience learning about the products. It was aligned with the IoT offerings and emphasizes modernity and digital convenience for the busy tech-savvy.

A series of interactive activities allowed hands-on with the products in easy ways and facilitated understanding of how Yale can “smartly” protect homes and provide a worry-free environment to #takeiteasy. By hosting the campaign in the new retail store, it is hoped to build brand awareness and drive retail traffic for the audience to learn about the dedicated brand-provided service.

The store activation was also complemented by an integrated campaign on Facebook with strategic posting of photos and video updates to further generate awareness for Yale’s #takeiteasy message. Facebook is used as those age 25-34 makes up the largest percentage of the Singaporean user base.

Execution

The Yale Smart Shop was divided into four AR-applied zones, focusing on interactivity, experiential, and unique personalized experience. The first three zones provided hands-on products experience, and the fourth zone featured a “Doors of Fortune” lucky draw displayed on a giant 2:2 instore video screen to attract passer-by attention. Simple and minimal design, focusing on grey, white, and black, also communicate modernity, allowing the products to shine in the absence of cluttered design.

Beginning at the store entrance, shoppers were invited to register on the campaign microsite by scanning a QR code using their smartphone devices. Using AR and QR codes, the microsite enticed participants into the store and encourage them to experience the different zones to learn about the smart Yale products.

Upon completing all zone, a grand lucky draw awaits the participants. Attractive prizes including free Yale smart door lock, Yale gift vouchers, and Yale souvenirs, giving participants the incentive to participate. Yale brand ambassadors were stationed at every zone to promote and educate how smart Yale products can help customers #takeiteasy in life. Yale souvenirs such as adhesive cardholders and RFID cardholders were specially chosen, focusing on Yale’s core function to “protect”.

Results

The campaign successfully reached more than 70,000 people and created nearly 90,000 impressions on the social media platform within five days (27-31 March 2019, pre- and during campaign). Shoppers were observed to share feedback through Likes, comments, and location check-ins. Though the main social media platform for sharing the campaign was Facebook, there was an Instagram post by a participant with over 2,000 followers that generated 95 likes. Word of mouth has also proven effective, with some shoppers returning with friends and relatives who were eager to make purchases. The number of smart products sold surged 132% when compared with February’s figures, and sales were up 98% in March.