Experience Design for VisitAarhus

Seismonaut has created a personalized experience at VisitAarhus’s pavilion at a B2B expo in the business tourist industry. The experience increased the number of touch points VisitAarhus had with its visitors and engaged people in a new way.

Challenge

The tourist organization in the second largest city of Denmark, Visit Aarhus, wanted to be profiled in an extraordinary and engaging way at the largest B2B event expo in Denmark, Kursuslex.

An expo is a roaring fight for attention. Visit Aarhus wanted to create something unique and special to stand out from the other exhibitors. Also, they wanted to create a compelling experience that would be remembered by the visitors. Finally, they wanted to be able to track the number of visitors and measure the level of participation at the pavilion during the expo.

Solution

When it comes to experience design we believe the crucial point to consider is the scope of the experience, which is why we have developed a Before, During and After model. This model was used to design the optimal experience for the expo where success is measured in the number of visitors, and in the branding experience they have at the pavilion.

Before
One week before the expo all of the attendees received an attendee badge by mail. On the back of the badge we had mounted an electronic tag (RFID) which contained the attendees’ name and company. Apart from the practical purpose of the badge, it also worked as a perfect way to pique and arouse the attendees’ curiosity.

During

The VisitAarhus pavilion was very large and placed next to the main street of the expo. We turned the prominent location and many passers-by into a major advantage by greeting each and everyone by his or her own name on large flat screens in both ends of the pavilion: “VisitAarhus welcomes John Smith”. The personalized greetings were made possible because of the electronic tags carried by the attendees communicated wirelessly with the flat screens.

The greeting caused quite a stir and caught people’s attention.

When they stepped inside the pavilion three large touch panels invited the visitor to participate in a simple quiz with three questions about the city of Aarhus. After completing the quiz the visitors were urged to go upstairs to the pavilion’s lounge, to see if they had won. When entering the lounge, a fanfare played in combination with the visitor’s name flashing on a flat screen, announcing whether you had won or lost in the quiz.

After

When the expo was over all quizzing visitors were invited on a study trip to Aarhus. In combination with the personalized quiz experience at the expo, the relationship between Visit Aarhus and the potential customers was now firmly established.

Outcome

For Visit Aarhus the success was significant: The number of visitors at the Visit Aarhus pavilion increased by more than 50% compared to the previous year, as did the percentage of visitors signing up for a study trip in the area of Aarhus.
For the visitors the experience was a clear-cut example of how experience design can be used to create personalized brand experiences that engage people and make them talk about it.

About VisitAarhus

VisitAarhus is an organization financed by the Municipality of Aarhus, with the purpose of developing and advancing tourism in the area and to market the city as a tourist destination for both businesses and consumers.