On the HUNT

2degrees developed a bespoke app that enabled users to hunt down bundles of data and capture them in real time by combining the GPS capability of smartphones with the emerging technology of augmented reality.

The challenge

With the lingering urban myth (stoked at every opportunity by the competition) that 2degrees doesn’t have a reliable network, and that coverage out of urban centres is sub- optimal, 2degrees needed to demonstrate that its network provides great coverage all over the country.

2degrees is outspent three to one in advertising dollars by the telco giants over the two months of November and December, which account for 20 percent of annual pre- pay sign- ups and 24 percent of all handset sales.

Christmas in telco- land is a sea of offers and 2degrees’ big- spending competitors, Spark and Vodafone, always have sharp handset prices and addedvalue offers at this important time.

The response

2degrees identified an area of opportunity to take advantage of consumers actively connecting over social media through their mobiles during the pre-christmas period. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, and plain old email and txt were expected to be more important to the prospective market than more traditional media.

The answer was to actively engage New Zealanders with 2degrees’ network by creating a mobile phone game that gave them more of what they needed – data. And so the 2degrees ‘ Data Hunt’ was born.

2degrees ‘Data Hunt’ is believed to have been a world-first marketing innovation. By combining the GPS capability of smartphones with the emerging technology of augmented reality, 2degrees developed a bespoke app that enabled users to hunt down bundles of data and capture them in

real-time. This was a clever variation on the user experience made familiar by the Pokémon Go craze.

220,000,000 MB of mobile data was allocated nationwide to more than 1400 data ‘Pins’, each with its own GPS location. Locations were carefully selected to reinforce that 2degrees’ network worked perfectly in rural and seaside areas.

The result

The campaign launched with an EDM to over 400,000 2degrees customers. It achieved a 44 percent open rate, and 18 percent of those emailed went on to download the app and play the game.

The strategy of opening the game up to Spark and Vodafone customers was successful in getting competitors’ customers picking up a 2degrees sim card.

An incredible 201,000 people ( double the stretch target) downloaded the app, rocketing it to number one position on both the App Store and Google Play. The game itself was played more than five million times. What’s more, the game was attracting the right kind of players – big data users with higher than average monthly spends. In other words, high value customers.

2degrees ‘Data Hunt’ is believed to be a world-first marketing innovation.