Image Credit : Deeplocal
Project Overview
Following their successful pop-up at SXSW, fan-favorite NFT brand Doodles wanted to wow attendees at NFT.NYC, a high-visibility event that celebrates innovation in the NFT industry. Doodles was gearing up for the upcoming debut of Doodles 2, an identity-focused NFT collection that lets holders express themselves with mix and match wearables, animated characters, music, and more. To drive excitement and engagement around this new collection, Doodles partnered with Deeplocal to transform an NYC gallery into an immersive "Genesis Factory" to illustrate the origins of Doodles 2. First-of-their-kind, custom interactive experiences reflected the Doodles universe through playful, Wonka-esque interactions. Highlights: a Doodlebot that interacted live with guests and custom Minting Machines that invited token holders to "materialize" Doodles 2 NFTs. Fans pre-ordered 1400+ Doodles 2 Genesis Boxes using the Minting Machines and walked away with a new sense of ownership in the Doodles experience.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Doodles
Deeplocal
Project Brief
What happens when a pastel universe moves from URL to IRL? At NFT.NYC, Doodles converted a Chelsea gallery into the Genesis Factory. Color, creativity, and zany laboratory antics transported attendees into the Doodleverse, revealing the origins of the Doodles 2 collection through whimsical interactions. A talking Doodlebot greeted guests, while blinking, stirring, forever-whirring Minting Machines allowed token holders to "materialize" brand new Doodles 2 NFT "Genesis Boxes." At these custom, physical x digital machines, guests used hand cranks and levers to blend Doodles traits, inject secret sauce, and mix until combined to create their Genesis Boxes. Fans reserved over 1,400 boxes on site at the machines via Shopify POS integration.
Further downtown at the Doodles Lounge, an interactive heat-press station called the Doodles-Press confirmed holders' Doodles and printed them on tees in real time. Fans walked away with personalized keepsakes and a new sense of authorship in the Doodles experience.
In each interactive zone, Doodles presented playful, personalized interactions imbued with a sense of magic to captivate attendees. For audiences outside of NFT.NYC, the project gained positive press and social media attention as a standout experience, and reinforced Doodles' image as a brand that’s pushing the boundaries of web3 into new territory.
Project Innovation/Need
Doodles at NFT.NYC showed that one-of-a-kind interactive experiences are integral to building brand love beyond web3. With RFID badge passports to the Doodleverse, token holders felt appreciated, and their sense of brand loyalty increased.
The Genesis Factory pop-up showcased the future of retail—brands leveraging web3 to reward their fans and strengthen their community by uniting digital technology and analog form factors in magical ways. Deeplocal integrated Shopify POS and tap-to-pay into the Minting Machines, using the technology as a driver for convenient and secure token-holder engagement. The standard give-and-take exchange of commerce was elevated into exclusive, memorable experiences with an emphasis on user creativity and play.
Design Challenge
Doodles engaged Deeplocal as their creative technology partner to concept, design, engineer, and produce tangible, interactive experiences for the Genesis Factory. The goal was to visualize Doodles NFTs in the real world (rather than solely in web3) and to put attendees in the shoes of "mad scientists" making it all happen. Our experiential execution needed to: (1) engage via successful world building and storytelling; (2) inspire a sense of wonder and awe about Doodles; (3) seamlessly integrate tactile, hands-on machines with Shopify's digital POS; and (4) encourage token holders and newcomers to invest in Doodles and spread hype on social media.
User Experience
Deeplocal created interactive touchpoints throughout the Genesis Factory. Three large-scale Minting Machines were the focal point of the space; each featured a main screen, card reader, touch screen, command center (levers to pull), hand crank, and token dispenser. On-screen prompts and Doodles animations directed users to pull three sequential levers, triggering Wonka-esque reactions—both physical and digital.
The integrated experiences at the Doodles Genesis Factory demystified NFTs and brought them from the web3 universe down to earth in tangible ways. The playful, laboratory-style interactives showed that Doodles is committed to welcoming and including its community in the Doodles creative process—they're always aiming to up the ante and bring unexpected fun for newcomers and fans. The Shopify integrations also brought commerce into a new realm by offering the convenience guests are used to, but through one-of-a-kind experiential (rather than merely transactional) means.
1400+ Doodles 2 Genesis Boxes were materialized and pre-ordered using the Minting Machines, and attendees shared their love on social media. Chase McCaskill, an NFT strategist and Doodles holder, described the Minting Machine as "a Disney-quality IRL activation of the Doodles IP that brought visitors of this Doodles experience even closer to the brand." His video of the experience gained over 146,000 views on Twitter. Following the event, the Wall Street Journal published a feature about Doodles as a leading web3 brand that’s extending their influence in the real world, noting that "Doodles [is] using interactive experiences to reach consumers who aren't already NFT converts."
Marketing - Branded Experience
This award celebrates creative and innovative design for branded experiences intended to persuade an audience to purchase or take some action upon products, ideas or services. Consideration given to the technical, conceptual and aesthetic elements, user experience, audience engagement and message delivery.
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