‘Follow the Penguin’ is a unique augmented reality app that helps to guide people to the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo. As traffic to the aquarium dwindled, Japanese advertising and PR agency ‘Hakuhodo’ was asked to come up with a clever way to drive traffic to the aquarium.
The aquarium is conveniently located close to public transportation and from there, the Follow the Penguin app guides users to the aquarium. When this app is used, augmented reality technology makes an adorable digital huddle of penguins show up on-screen, waddling before a user in the direction of the aquarium.
The campaign was successful in increasing aquarium visits by 152% and it was noted that time spent on the app on average was about nine minutes — which is actually longer than it takes to get to the aquarium by foot.
Penguin-Guided Navigation Apps
The 'Follow the Penguin' App Guides People to the Sunshine Aquarium
Trend Themes
1. Augmented Reality Navigation - Augmented reality technology can be used to guide users to specific destinations, enhancing the navigation experience.
2. Interactive Advertising Campaigns - Creative and interactive advertising campaigns can increase customer engagement and drive traffic to specific locations or attractions.
3. Location-based Mobile Apps - Mobile apps that utilize location-based technology can provide personalized recommendations and directions to nearby attractions, increasing convenience for users.
Industry Implications
1. Tourism and Travel - The tourism and travel industry can benefit from innovative navigation solutions that enhance the visitor experience and increase foot traffic to specific locations.
2. Advertising and PR - The advertising and PR industry can leverage augmented reality technology to create interactive campaigns that capture the attention of consumers and drive them to desired destinations.
3. Mobile App Development - The mobile app development industry can explore the use of location-based technology and augmented reality to create innovative and user-friendly navigation apps.