The campaign utilised unique interactive animation to attract mall patrons, at the Menlyn, Northgate, Clearwater and Eastgate malls to the product stands, while professional veterinarians were on-site to provide information and offer advice on proper pet nutrition. Mall patrons visiting the stand were able to engage in a live interaction with the animated characters of Rex the Dog and Smokey the Cat via plasma screens. The animated characters were controlled behind the scenes by actors who initiated contact with visitors through a number of pre-programmed moves such as walking, sitting, sleeping and speaking.
“Activation media is about creating an experiential marketing interaction between the brand and the consumer. We are finding that our clients are fast realising the value of communicating with their desired target markets through alternative marketing platforms,” comments Vaughan Berry, Director and head of Provantage's activation media division. “In order to effectively achieve this we need to create an immediate connection with the consumer, in this case when they initially walk onto the stand. For the Pedigree and Whiskas campaign the interactive animation was the perfect tool to attract visitors.
“Once the connection had been made we had professional veterinarians, Dr. Melvyn Greenburg and Dr. Buks Wandrag on the stand to answer any questions and provide expert advice on pet care and nutrition," continues Berry.
"Activation marketing is becoming increasingly popular as part of many companies marketing mix strategies, as it speaks directly to the consumer in a familiar environment. With there being large amounts of foot traffic through the big malls in Gauteng, we are able to drive awareness and education of the brand using activation marketing platforms," comments Berry.
Clearwater Mall in the Westrand recorded foot traffic figures of 200,000 over the Pedigree Whiskas campaign period, while Eastgate had 550,000 patrons walk through the mall during the promotion. The Menlyn and Northgate malls both averaged over 250 000 visitors for the week.
“These figures, coupled with the ability to customise innovative solutions to meet our clients' needs makes activation marketing an increasingly popular platform to speak to consumers,” says Berry. “Companies are now starting to see that ambient media needs to have added value to create brand awareness, and activation campaigns such as this address this issue very effectively,” he concludes.
“Provantage Media proved to be an effective activation agency to competently meet our requirements of educating consumers on the benefits of Pedigree and Whiskas for their pets, as well as creating a greater awareness for the brand,” says Hendrik van der Walt, Category Director at Masterfoods South Africa. “We see great value in in-store activation campaigns and hope to commission more on a national basis,” concludes van der Walt.
