The client: Redland City Council. Redland City, also known as the Redlands, is a local government area located within Greater Brisbane, with a relaxed coastal lifestyle.

Challenge

How can we transform Redland City into a playful destination for Christmas 2024 using mobile augmented reality technology?

Goals

- Create an exciting Christmas adventure that invites residents and tourists to explore Redland City, searching for festive characters at various locations, while spreading a cheerful holiday spirit throughout the city.

- Organise an interactive festive Christmas colouring-in competition for kids, providing entertainment and engagement, with the chance to win prizes.

Solution & Deliverables

1. Augmented Reality Christmas Trail: CreativiTek worked closely with the council to create an Augmented Reality Christmas Trail featuring eight of CreativiTek’s festive animations, including characters like an elf, snowman, gingerbread, Santa, reindeer, and a custom surfing Santa riding a virtual surfboard on waves. In total, nine augmented reality animations were spread across nine locations (with multiple animations at some sites) throughout the city. Floor decals were designed as triggers for the AR animations. Mobile users were encouraged to download the CreativiTek app, scan the decals, and bring the Christmas characters to life. They could interact with the characters, capture photos and videos, and share them on social media using the hashtag #ChristmasOnRedlandsCoast.

2. A Custom 3D Santa Augmented Reality Animation: We created a custom surfing Santa animation to offer both residents and tourists an authentic experience of the Redland Coast’s coastal lifestyle. To achieve this, we designed a unique 3D Santa that mirrored the city’s real Santa, dressed in a coastal-inspired outfit, and developed a branded surfboard featuring the city’s brand colours and logos. The sound design was developed in line with the client's guidelines, and the final animation was activated on the CreativiTek augmented reality application, allowing it to be discovered and brought to life alongside eight other Christmas animations.

The Redland City Council team provided an interactive map on their website, guiding their target audience to various locations where they could search for festive characters. These locations were pinned on the map and listed for website visitors. At each spot, visitors discovered colourful floor decals featuring Christmas images such as Santa, Elves, and Snowmen. By using the CreativiTek app, they could bring these animations to life. The map also highlighted where visitors could find Santa's mailboxes to drop off their completed colouring sheets and enter the prize draw. Alternatively, they could enter the draw through the AR application.

3. An Augmented Reality Colouring Sheet: A Christmas-themed augmented reality colouring page was designed to run a festive colouring competition. The 3D animation and colouring page were created to align with the council’s branding, ensuring campaign consistency. Families could pick up a colouring page at various locations, including libraries, art centres, and visitor centres, or download and print one from the Christmas campaign website.

 After completing the colouring page, they could drop it in Santa’s Mailboxes at seven locations across the city. Additionally, a pop-up box appeared at the end of the AR colouring animation, directing mobile users to a webpage where they could enter their details to participate in the colouring competition. The augmented reality popup box was designed by CreativiTek to align with the client's guidelines, branding, and campaign elements.

4. AR Promotional Videos and Images: To help the client promote the augmented reality activities and increase visitation and engagement, CreativiTek collaborated with the council to capture augmented reality photos and videos. We produced one standard promotional video and one social media video, as well as providing the council with promotional images.

5. Weekly Results Report, Analysis, and Insights: As one of our key deliverables, we provided the client with data on a weekly basis, including the number of scans per floor decal and colouring page, the number of photos/videos captured and shared, and other relevant metrics. This data helped the client monitor and evaluate the project both during its run and at its conclusion. Additionally, we offered insights based on the data, highlighting which experiences garnered the most and least attention, along with the reasons behind these trends. This feedback was aimed at helping the client boost engagement and maximise the return on their investment.

Our Services: The services we provided included 3D animation creation, 3D modelling, augmented reality development, graphic design, photography, video production, and AR data analysis and reporting.

Outcome: The colouring page and floor decals were scanned approximately 2,700 times over a 3-week period for the treasure hunt (floor decals) and 4 weeks for the colouring page. Users captured a total of around 1,000 photos with AR characters, and approximately 450 of these photos were shared.