Antarctica has been a sponsor of Carnival festivities for the past 10 years, and the brand needed to find a new way to create connections with its consumers at the biggest party of the year. To do this, the brand helped solve a common problem at Carnival: bathroom availability. Antarctica created APPee, an app that used geo-location data to connect Carnival attendees to the available bathrooms around the city.
Objective and Context:
Since 2008, Antarctica has been sponsoring Carnival street parties to strengthen its relationship with its audience and drive brand awareness. However, it can be challenging to stand out among the sponsors and parties at the annual festivities.
Target Audience:
The brand has dubbed its key target as the Traditionalists. The profile of this consumer is based on sociodemographic segmentation, as well as attitudinal, behavioral, and lifestyle factors. This segment includes young consumers (18-24) through older ones (50 and older). This segment values the simple things in life such as friends, family, community relations, Sunday soccer, and the local bar. Traditionalists believe everything is better when the people they cherish are with them.
Creative Strategy:
Antarctica did not want to fade into the background at the biggest celebration of the year, and the brand wanted to appeal to the younger subset of Traditionalist audience. This tech savvy and trendsetting target had distanced themselves from the brand because its communications were not relevant.
To increase relevance and enhance the target’s Carnival experiences in a discernable way, Antarctica set out to solve a common problem party-goers faced at the festivities. While beer, music, and dancing where easy to come by at Carnival, finding a nearby bathroom was much more difficult. This issue caused problems for both revelers and local authorities, so Antarctica created a solution in the form of an app.
Overall Campaign Execution:
Antarctica created APPee, an app that worked similarly to AirBnB. Local homeowners registered their bathrooms on the app, and during the festival, people could check the app to find a nearby bathroom to use. The service only required that those using the bathrooms show a can of Antarctica beer to gain access.
The project was divided into two stages. First, an online campaign introduced the app and sought to get as many people registered as possible. In this phase, the brand was targeting those who might be interested in registering their bathrooms and those who anticipated needing a bathroom at the celebration.
Once Carnival was in full swing, a team monitored social media to ensure the app was functioning effectively during the event. On Fat Tuesday Antarctica shared a video case study of the initiative on YouTube and Facebook to increase visibility.
Bathroom owners were compensated by the brand for opening their doors to the public.
Mobile Execution:
The app was developed for both iOS and Android, and it was free to download. Through the app, users’ location data helped them find nearby, available bathrooms. Users could rate the bathrooms through the app, as well.
The first stage of the campaign saw engagement, clicks, and views double the average for other campaigns with the same format. The app was downloaded thousands of times during Carnival, and the bathrooms were used by more than 2,000 people with 95 percent positive reviews.
At Carnival events where the app was not active, attendees expressed interest in wishing the app was available. Local authorities are interested in partnering to finance the project for next year's Carnival.
