Vicinity Centres and SapientNitro Melbourne have come up with an innovative solution to the challenge of finding the perfect gift this Christmas.

It’s called ‘GiftR’ and designed as a fun and interactive digital experience that matches presents with the personality of the person receiving the gift.

Launched this week, the campaign titled ‘GiftR – swipe for the perfect gift’ is designed as a tool for those who enjoy scouting online for the latest and greatest products available.   Located on shopping centres’ homepages, ‘GiftR’ asks a series of interest based questions and users can swipe right or left to answer.

The final result is a selection of gift options available at the specific shopping centre, that are based on personality, rather than age or price.

Although Vicinity Centres see a very high volume of traffic to its websites during the Christmas period, the relationship was one way, with customers mostly looking for opening hours and store listings. SapientNitro was tasked with finding a process to add value and relevance for people visiting the site in a fun and creative way, with the goal of helping customers uncover what can be found in the centre.

Vicinity Centres marketing strategy director Nicole Imberger said, “We’re very excited to bring ‘GiftR’ to our customers as it includes over 70 participating retailers with almost 1,000 Christmas gift ideas.”

The new ‘GiftR’ experience is designed to be used on a desktop computer and handheld devices.

“We believe ‘GiftR’ is a fun, emotive and interactive way to put our retailers’ products in front of our customers from any mobile device. This new approach to gifting will help new and existing customers uncover what’s on offer in our centres, and inspire more shopping visits,” Nicole said.

What makes ‘GiftR’ unique is that instead of filtering the results based on cost, age or shop, a complex algorithm determines personality characteristics and used that to select relevant gifts.

SapientNitro associate creative director Chris Shoolman added, “It’s great being able to use the latest technology to find gifts for your loved ones this Christmas, but it has to be a user friendly experience. ‘GiftR’ is a perfect example of placing the consumer at the heart of the experience and delivering real value in a simple, fun and interactive way.”

‘GiftR’ also includes an incentivised sharing component, in which Vicinity Centres donates $1 to charity The Smith Family, each time a customer shares the ‘GiftR’ tool on Facebook or Twitter.

An example of the ‘GiftR’ technology being used at The Glen Shopping Centre can be seen at http://www.theglen.com.au/campaign/giftr

CREDITS FOR PROJECT

AGENCY – SAPIENTNITRO

Thomas Francis – Account Director

Chris Shoolman – Associate Creative Director

Fintan McGivern – Strategy Lead

Stefan Schroeder – Senior Experience Designer

Andy Athaide – Senior Account Executive

Anja Hoffman – Senior Designer

Jess Utting – Senior Art Director

Phon Vongdara – Copywriter

CLIENT – VICINITY CENTRES

Nicole Imberger – Marketing Strategy Director

Anna Kismet – National Marketing Manager – Digital

Sarah-Jayne Lofthouse – Social Media Manager

Jane Webster – Senior Marketing Manager – Strategic Programs