Absa x cars.co.za
Turning Mall Footfall into Playable Brand Moments
Absa, one of South Africa’s leading banks, set out to turn heads with a bold experiential marketing goal: use cutting-edge tech to fuel real-world engagement and gather high-value first-person data. The task? Deliver a campaign that would leave a lasting brand impression—while offering users a shot at fantastic prizes, including the ultimate reward: a brand-new car.
With a crowded market and discerning audience, the challenge lay in creating an experience that was exciting, seamless, and tech-forward—all within a live retail setting.
We developed a three-day AR activation at Sandton’s Nelson Mandela Square and Checkers Court, transforming the showroom floor into an interactive mobile experience where participants collected geo-locked Virtual Asset Tokens (VATs) for the chance to win tiered prizes.
The journey included:
📍 Geofenced prize drops tied to each location, encouraging foot traffic across both car showcase zones.
📱 Mobile-first web app (no downloads!) that guided users from registration to prize redemption.
🎯 Loyalty mechanic: Participants had to collect a VAT at both sites to qualify for the grand prize—tracked via a dynamic progress bar in their wallet.
✅ 85%+ sign-up conversion rate from QR scan to registration.
🔁 2x re-engagement rate across the 3-day campaign window.
⏱ ~15 minutes average session time
👥 Thousands of unique participants, with 550–600 users signing up per day.
🧠 Captured high-quality first-person data with every interaction.
🏆 All 2,000 prizes issued.
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