Solutions Provider: United Print Group (UPG: size ~6 staff)
Client: Rugby Football Club
Industry: Sports and Recreation
Project: Augmented Reality Member Engagement
Client profile:
The client is a prominent rugby football club that has around 100 staff and 15,000 members.
Overview:
Following sports is in many ways a mainstay of many people’s lives however consideration to what makes the clubs behind the sports tick is quite often an unknown to many followers. Sporting clubs rely heavily on game attendance and registered members, not primarily for revenue generation, but to attract and retain high level sponsors that are willing to pay big dollars to build brand recognition across these audiences.
Challenge:
During the earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, sporting clubs, like many other community engagement type businesses were impacted greatly by the inability for members and fans to attend games, functions and venues. During this time, it became quite difficult for many of these clubs to engage with and keep engaged a “socially distanced” member base and as such membership numbers started to decline as did the revenue associated with their member activity.
In this case study we see how a small, yet innovative, print franchise business, also a white label Partner of UnifiedAR, turned their client’s dilemma into a powerful brand defining turning point.
The Approach:
Engaging with a detached audience is not easy at the best of times, let alone when a usually very connected audience is suddenly pushed into the realms of virtual remoteness. Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder.
With this in mind UPG, charged with the task of solving the problem, knew that any solution delivered was going to need to cut through the ever-growing digital clutter that consumers are being faced with and be engaging enough that it provided real WOW factor. The solution; Augmented Reality enabled print, also known as Interactive Print, a solution that combines the power of print’s ability to get attention and build trust with the digital’s talent for engagement, particularly when the primary digital component showcases augmented reality’s never ending capacity to amaze the masses.
The Solution:
UPG, who is a white label Partner of UnifiedAR, implemented the use of augmented reality into both new and existing print collateral to deliver interactive print solutions that not only caught the target audiences attention, but wowed them like never before, and more importantly drove levels of engagement not seen since the start of 2020.
The flagship solution that drove this resurrection of engagement was a birthday card sent to members on the month of their birthday. The card when read prompted the member to scan a QR code within the content to “Receive their exclusive birthday wish and gift” from the club.
When scanning the QR code members were presented with an animated birthday message being delivered by a variety of club players that appeared standing on the card in a miniature, almost “hologram like” format (achieved very simply through green screen video content) that once delivered then prompted the member to proceed, via a seamless call to action, to the clubs online store to receive a “Birthday Discount” off any sport memorabilia they purchased.
Following the massive success of the Birthday Campaign, and the gradual lifting of restrictions, UPG, again using the same UnifiedAR technology implemented full size player animations (green screen video) from the likes of pull up banners and posters from within venues.
The club is so impressed with the results to date that it has asked UPG to scope a rewards based interactive treasure hunt delivered from in-club posters and signage along with an AR enabled fridge magnet that members can scan at any given time to receive club updates and more importantly, offers that change on a regular basis.
The Results:
With card open response rates of 87%, and AR experience click through rates of 327% the success of engaging the member base is irrefutable, to such a degree that the interaction with the AR content even had a viral effect.
The real success of the campaign though is representative in the significant decrease in the average annual member attrition rate, driven down from 29% to 11% and the additional revenue generated from the “Birthday Gift” purchases from the clubs online store which accounted for a massive 22% increase overall.
Withstanding the production of the 4 x ten second green screen player videos and the birthday card design, it is amazing to know that the AR component, the component that has driven so much activity, literally took around 3 minutes to implement.
Whilst still an active campaign the results for the AR enabled Birthday Card continue to excite everyone involved.
On a side note, UPG is now also in active discussions with a number of other sporting clubs interested in a similar Augmented Reality Member Engagement solution.
About UnifiedAR:
UnifiedAR is a simple to use white label augmented reality (AR) marketing platform that enables printers and marketers to easily provide customers with Augmented Reality Member Engagement and Interactive Print solutions that drive consumer activity and engagement and improve campaign performance.
Take your Augmented Reality Member Engagement to the next level. Our AR technology offers an immersive experience for members, allowing you to connect with them in a more meaningful way. Unleash the power of AR and experience the future of membership engagement. Stand out from your competition with UnifiedAR.Contact us today!
