What is High Street Safari?
In 2020 we did our first high street experience, “Monster Hero Safari” where families could go hunting for 10 monster superheroes, which were displayed in public windows. People could either scan the barcode or “tap” the monster with their phone, which would unlock a storybook of information.
Children could spot the cute, colourful characters, and when they found all 10, they could download a free e-book with the character’s first team-up adventure.
We have brought this back for Christmas 2022 with the story “The Lost Toys” as a simple way to encourage people onto the highstreet this Christmas. There will be 60 participating businesses, all of which will also be supported with social media, print adverts and press releases, and all businesses can add offers to their section, which will be shown to all participating players.
Trails were set up in towns across the Yorkshire Coast, including Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, Hornsea and Withernsea.
The Detail
We have seen the power of ‘experience trails’ as people look for activities to do safely with their families. Rainbows and teddy bears displayed in residential windows have become synonymous with the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and have been a feature seen ever since.
MonsterHero Safari worked by utilising contactless NFC technology and QR codes without the need for players to download or sign up for more information.
The safari consisted of ten vinyl window characters, with embedded NFC tags that mostly independent retailers hosted.
It was simple for people to take part as they simply:
- Tapped any character decal with a mobile phone to unlock the little monster to get started
- After unlocking the character, families could learn their names, stories and powers and find out where the next one was hiding
- When all ten were unlocked, the e-book then became available.
Families joining the safari could either play or opt to donate to the NHS Families Together Charity Fund, and we made the games free of charge.
How businesses could promote the trail
The trails were created to guide people around each of the towns so as well as the businesses which had the monster vinyl in the window, all businesses could play a part in promoting this as an activity for their customers via their own social media channels
To make it even easier, we created social media assets that anyone could download and use like the ones below.
Who will benefit?
MonsterHero Safari gave participants from the community the opportunity to:-
- Support our high streets by providing a free family activity.
- Encourage the community into areas of the town they may not have usually explored.
MonsterHero Safari gave the business community the opportunity to:-
- Benefit from additional footfall and exposure across multiple marketing platforms
- Engage with families visiting their premises, perhaps for the first time.
MonsterHero Safari gave audiences the opportunity to:-
- Explore multiple towns across the Yorkshire Coast
- See the Yorkshire Coast as home to interactive experiences.
Investment:
2020: £1,100
2022: £3,500
What’s next?
The trails were live from May to October, and we have a great opportunity to fund more as the next instalments of the Monsters adventures have been released.
Initially, we used the trails to focus on movement around the centre of towns, but if your area struggles to get noticed and you would like to see this return to your area, don’t hesitate to let us know by dropping us an email or call.
