Turn it App M+AD!

AUCKLAND, Today: Ben Partington, ceo at media owner Hypermedia, has launched a new business with Staples VR ceo Aliesha Staples to market NZ’s first media smartphone app aimed at changing the way Kiwis interact with advertisements.

The Arena Media app utilises state-of-the-art image recognition technology that allows brands to overlay captivating digital content over their advertising campaigns across a plethora of mainstream media including outdoor, in-store, print and TV.

Smartphone users can activate the Arena Media app camera to reveal augmented reality activations, games, competitions and special offers from the brands they choose to engage with.

Arena Media has already caught the eye of media owner Phantom Billstickers and a campaign launches this week in collaboration with their client, St Jerome’s Laneway Festival.

Throughout December the Auckland public will be able to scour the city looking for Laneway Festival street posters on Phantom’s network. The public can use the app to interact with the media for the chance to win tickets to the popular event.

Partington said: “Something that was really important to us when creating Arena Media was the ability for customers to receive something tangible and desirable in return for their attention.

“The app has already caught the eye of Phantom and a campaign launches this week for their client, St Jerome’s Laneway Festival.”

“The Arena Media wallet stores all manner of earned assets that users collect through their brand interactions for redemption.

“There’s been a couple of slick examples of interactivity between mobile devices and advertising internationally such as the Burn That Ad by Burger King in Brazil, where audiences flame-grilled competitor media using AR and received Whopper vouchers.

“As far as treating an interactive app platform as a media channel where all brands large or small can deliver unique activations concurrently, we believe this is the first of its kind.”

Aliesha Staples says the creative potential of the platform is extensive and can be used for a number of different purposes.

“The options are near limitless, we can create highly engaging scavenger hunt activations, gamified competitions, live polling, interactive shopping experiences and even your tried and true branded AR filters,” she said.

Data and analytics are another powerful benefit to advertisers and media owners in using the Arena Media platform. With rich location, interaction and redemption tracking capability Arena Media can help brands understand more about their audiences’ preferences, behaviors and purchase habits.

Arena Media is available free on the Apple App store and Google Play now and is fully campaign-ready for those brands wishing to take a step towards interactivity and added value for New Zealand audiences.