Percept digitICE produces a magical ‘Hamleys Christmas 2020’ experience
~ Spread over 35 days a Virtual & On-ground engagement covering 16 stores across 11 cities ~
Percept digitICE, the Digital and Virtual arm of Percept ICE, the Special Projects, Events & Experiential Marketing Domain Company of Percept Ltd, bagged the prestigious mandate of conceptualizing and producing the ‘Hamleys Christmas 2020’ brand activation across India. The mega 360-degree hybrid event included both a captivating Virtual Engagement Platform and also saw On-Ground Activations covering 16 Hamleys stores across 11 cities pan-India from 1 December 2020 to 4 January 2021.
Hamleys is the finest toy shop in the world and the world’s best-known retailers of toys. The Indian chapter of the Hamleys story has been quite amazing. With a presence of over 100 stores across 36 cities, Hamleys has become the most loved toyshop in India. From getting a chance to play with their favourite toys, to watching live demos of toys or interacting with their beloved toy characters, every Hamleys store offers children a magical experience and adults the rare chance to become children again.
The 360-degree Virtual and On-ground ‘Hamleys Christmas 2020’ experience was conceptualized, designed, planned and executed by Percept digitICE, the Full-Service Digital, Virtual and Hybrid Experiential Marketing & Events Unit of Percept ICE. Given the Covid-19 spread and associated safety protocols imposed by the State Governments across India, Percept DigitICE conceptualized a unique Hybrid Christmas experience for Hamleys to stay engaged with their audience and also enlarge their reach and impact all through the Festive season while strictly maintaining physical distancing protocols & guidelines.
The Virtual engagement saw an innovative 360-degree 3D platform created that offered a magical and festive user experience inclusive of virtual Christmas Parties, Letters to Santa, a DIY Zone, Selfie Booths, School outreach and more. The UI and UX was created keeping kids in mind therein ensuring ease of usage and navigation. The site also synchronized with Social Media platforms to allow users to share their fun Hamleys Christmas moments. The 3D site offered Interactive Gaming, Virtual Reality integration, Video Streaming and also steered customers to the e-commerce site.
The Hamleys Christmas on-ground activity saw Santa’s Grotto being introduced for the very first time in India and set up across all stores across the country. Excited kids had to pre-book the exclusive ‘Meet & Greet ‘ with Santa and his loveable Elves at the Grotto, and also got a chance to participate in a range of fun activities including a special DIY Toy Workshop, Balloon Sculpting, mail Letters to Santa, get clicked at the Selfie Booths and more. The Christmas Choir ushered in the message of the season in mellifluous symphony and the spectacular Christmas Parade saw Elves kick up a lively welcome dance routine followed by Santa, the Princesses and a host of other favourite toy characters walk the parade and wow the crowds.
The Virtual Hamleys Christmas 2020 platform saw over 5,200 site visits and registrations, an active engagement with over 2000 fans, and over 900 Virtual Christmas party registrations. This first ever virtual Christmas platform also offered Hamleys an opportunity to map the customer e-journey to enable them to further enhance engagement and customer satisfaction. At the on-ground level, all stores saw families come to the Hamleys Santa Grotto and attend all the Hamleys Christmas events within permissible limits of attendance as set by the respective local State Governments. Covid Safety Protocols were strictly followed at all stores including limited customer visits, social distancing, mandatory wearing of masks in-store, temperature checks and use of sanitizers at all entry points.
Said Vidya Alva, EVP & Business Head, Percept ICE, “The month long Hamleys Christmas 2020 event was an exciting and challenging project for Percept digitICE. We had to maintain the sanctity and spirit of the annual Hamleys Christmas tradition, and also ensure that all government mandated SOPs and protocols were maintained at the ground level. This first ever Hybrid model executed for Hamleys not only saw customers enjoy the traditional Hamleys Christmas magic in a secure environment, but also augmented their reach and impact for the first time ever via an innovative Virtual engagement platform. While Covid-19 rampages the world, our pioneering efforts in the Virtual, Digital and Hybrid space has enabled our clients to enjoy continual reach, engagement, narrative and expansion of their brand footprint. I am thankful to the Hamleys Management for the faith invested in Percept ICE and digitICE teams and our digital capabilities. We look forward to producing many more bespoke experiences in the virtual and hybrid domain for all our clients.”
The 35 day Virtual and On-ground ‘Hamleys Christmas 2020’ project is another successful accomplishment for the newly incepted Percept digitICE — the Full-Service Virtual, Digital and Hybrid Experiential Marketing & Events Unit of Percept ICE. Service offerings from the Percept digitICE stable span Virtual Platforms, Creative Integration, Virtual Engagement & Networking, Digital Interactivity, Mixed Reality (MR), Hybrid Events, Entertainment Content specially curated for Virtual platforms or Digital platforms with a vast range of Design content options suited for the Digital, Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR) platform.
