Interactive installations bring The Warehouse’s Red Rabbit back to life

AUCKLAND, Today: Grey Lynn-based digital creative agency Method and OMG have brought back The Warehouse’s Red Rabbit Hunt again for Easter.

Warehouse brand marketing lead for the initiative, Birgit Hoeglinger, said: “And this year the concept has been taken to a new level using webAR.

“Kiwis can now bring the loveable Red Rabbit to life in locations throughout the country. 

“Red Rabbit can be found hiding in a series of interactive illustrations hosted on bus shelters, street posters and shopping centre retail panels, and can be scanned and brought to life through a first of its kind AR experience, using creative tech studio Method’s proprietary web-based AR platform – Mattar.

“The Red Rabbit Hunt encourages Kiwis to head into any of The Warehouse’s stores nationwide to find Red Rabbit in-store and win prizes – with up to 50,000 instant prizes to be won.

“The concept has been developed by The Warehouse’s in-house customer strategy team in partnership with Kiwi illustrator Kat Hall and Method.

Hoeglinger says the new interactive artwork allows Kiwis to engage with the campaign outside of stores.

“Mattar is a webAR platform that our team developed during the first lockdown and it’s a gamechanger for accessing rich AR experiences. We’re excited to join The Warehouse on this campaign and looking forward to seeing how the public responds.”

“We wanted to find a fun and interactive way to bring our Red Rabbit Hunt to life in hiding spots in 100 locations around the country, and generally get people excited about Easter.

“We’re also pleased to team up with New Zealand illustrator Kat Hall, who has really captured the excitement of this time of year with a Kiwi twist, through a series of fun and vibrant Easter-in-New Zealand illustrations.”

The Warehouse creative Jacqueline Comer says it was a unique creative challenge.

“We wanted to find a way to engage communities with our Easter campaign and inspire their imagination through the use of AR,” she said.

“WebAR is a more user-friendly AR experience, because you don’t need to download an app to engage with the technology; simply scan a QR code and you’re in.”

Method MD Sam Ramlu said: “Mattar is a webAR platform that our team developed during the first lockdown and it’s a gamechanger for accessing rich AR experiences.

“We’re excited to team up with The Warehouse on this campaign and we’re looking forward to seeing how the public responds.”

In addition to out of home placements, the illustrations can also be seen across The Warehouse’s mailers and point of sale in stores.

The campaign runs until next week.

CREDITS

Client: The Warehouse
Customer Strategy: Andrew Stein
Brand marketing: Birgit Hoeglinger
Brand marketing: Hetal Jivanji
Brand marketing: Greta Rountree
Creative: Jacqueline Comer
Creative: Catherine Jacka
Creative: Samantha Smith
Digital and eCommerce: Meera Menon
Media: Jessamy Benge
Media: Maddie Smith

Media Agency: Omnicom Media Group
Business Director: Keri Thomas
Business Manager: Sean Galvin
Planning Director: Suzanne Breslin
Bridget Welsh: Account Manager

Creative Agency: Method
Account Director: Nick Piper
Designer Sophie: Douglas
Developer: Caitlin Palmer
Developer: Andrew Walsh
3D artist, animator: Lahiru De Silva
Illustrator: Kat Hall