Tag: mobile coupons

Subway “Daredevil Delivery”

Subway was facing massive competition from other fast food chains in China. Mobile agency iconmobile was given the task to claim the mindsets of their target audience in an innovative way that also triggered sales.

A mobile game was created to let users step into the role of a subway delivery guy. Rather than just providing an emotional benefit, the app also included…

  • a map that provided direction to shops nearby
  • a click-2-call order function
  • a mobile coupon channel to trigger sales according to the users behaviour

Here, a mobile coupon channel means offers delivered through the phone based on what the user does in the experience, not a generic discount blast.

Why the mechanics matter

The idea combines three practical conversion tools with gameplay. A nearby-store map reduces “where do I go”. Click-to-call reduces “how do I order”. Coupons reduce “why now”. The game gives all of it a reason to be opened in the first place. This is smart mobile thinking because it makes the route from attention to order materially shorter. The real question is how to turn a branded interaction into a faster path to purchase.

Extractable takeaway: entertainment works harder when it removes friction at the exact moment interest is highest.

In mobile-led fast food categories, this matters because attention is easy to win for a moment, but ordering friction still kills intent fast.

What Subway is really trying to do

The business intent is to turn branded play into store discovery, faster ordering, and timed coupon redemption.

What to borrow for mobile campaigns

  • Attach utility to entertainment. Games can drive attention, but the built-in tools drive action.
  • Keep the path to purchase short. If ordering is a tap away, intent has less time to cool down.
  • Use behaviour to time incentives. Coupons work better when they match what the user is doing in the moment.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Subway “Daredevil Delivery”?

A mobile game campaign in China that put users in the role of a Subway delivery guy, paired with tools that could trigger real orders.

Which agency created it?

iconmobile.

What features connected the game to sales?

A nearby-store map, a click-to-call ordering function, and a mobile coupon channel based on user behaviour.

Why is this stronger than a branded game on its own?

Because the game creates attention, while the map, call function, and coupon channel give that attention a direct path to store visits and orders.

What is the key lesson for mobile?

Pair a fun mechanic with immediate utility, so the experience can convert curiosity into action without friction.

McDonald’s: Pick N’ Play Billboard Game

You are walking through central Stockholm and a McDonald’s billboard does something unusual. It invites you to play a quick Pong-style challenge on the screen, using your own phone as the controller.

DDB Stockholm has created another interactive outdoor campaign for McDonald’s Sweden called Pick N’ Play. Passers-by use their mobile phones as controllers to play for a chosen McDonald’s treat. If they last for more than 30 seconds, they score a coupon that earns them free fast food at a nearby McDonald’s.

Reportedly, the interaction avoids an app download and instead uses a simple mobile web flow, with proximity checks (via phone location) so only people physically near the screen can play.

Why this one pulls a crowd

The mechanic is instantly legible. Most people recognize Pong in a split second, which lowers hesitation and increases participation. The billboard also creates a public spectacle, which adds social proof and makes stopping feel normal, not awkward.

Extractable takeaway: This is rewarded interactivity, meaning the payoff is gated behind sustained attention instead of a tap. In outdoor, that simple “earn it” rule turns a public glance into a deliberate, measurable action.

What McDonald’s is really buying

The prize is not the point. The real value is a measurable bridge from street attention to store visit. A time-based win condition filters for people who are actually willing to pause, focus, and then act, which makes the coupon a higher-signal trigger than a generic discount blast.

The real question is whether your DOOH idea can turn a public moment into a private, trackable action without adding friction.

In global consumer brands and retail environments, interactive digital out-of-home earns its keep when it connects a public moment of attention to a private, trackable action on a personal device.

Steal these moves for your next DOOH game

  • Use a mechanic people already know. Familiar rules beat clever rules in outdoor contexts.
  • Make the phone the interface. It turns a billboard into a controllable experience and a trackable session.
  • Reward endurance, not clicks. Time-in-game is a simple proxy for real attention.
  • Close the loop fast. A coupon that can be redeemed nearby turns novelty into footfall.

Last year they had challenged pedestrians to take pictures of McDonald’s food to get it for free.

A few fast answers before you act

What makes an interactive billboard work in practice?

An interactive billboard works when the invite is understood in seconds and the first action feels effortless on a phone.

Do you need an app to control a billboard with a phone?

No. Campaigns like this are often built as mobile web experiences so participation is immediate and friction stays low.

How do you stop people from playing remotely?

By verifying proximity. A common approach is using phone location to confirm the player is physically near the screen before the session starts.

Why use a 30-second target?

It is long enough to prove engagement, short enough to feel achievable, and simple enough to explain with one line of copy.

What is the business upside versus a normal coupon?

You get a higher-intent audience. The coupon is earned through attention and action, which tends to correlate with stronger redemption and store visitation.

Dentsu: iButterfly Location-Based Coupons

Coupons with wings: iButterfly turns deals into a mobile hunt

Here is a great example of Online, Mobile and Shopper Marketing converging with Augmented Reality (AR), where the phone camera view becomes the backdrop while digital objects are overlaid and tied to location signals like GPS. Integrated Marketing literally put into the hands of the people.

Japanese ad agency Dentsu has started this experimental coupon download platform called iButterfly on the iPhone. The free iPhone app transforms the habit of collecting coupons into a fun little game using AR and the device’s GPS.

The mechanic: catch a butterfly, unlock a coupon

The app tasks its users with catching virtual butterflies that are flying around, each representing one or more coupons. You can even share “butterflies” with your friends via Bluetooth.

In this context, the phone camera view becomes the backdrop, while digital objects, here butterflies, are overlaid and tied to location signals like GPS.

In retail and FMCG shopper marketing, the value of this approach is that promotions become a location-linked experience, not a passive download.

Why this format works for targeted promotions

The key shift is motivation. People are not “clipping” coupons. They are playing a simple collecting game, and the reward is a deal that feels earned. That feeling is why the offer holds attention long enough to drive action.

Extractable takeaway: When an offer is packaged as a collectible tied to place and moment, it feels context-aware rather than generic. Treat location as part of the experience, and keep the capture-to-redemption path short so the “find” turns into a real reward.

What Dentsu is really prototyping here

This is less about novelty AR and more about a new distribution behavior. Turning offers into collectible objects changes how often users open the app, how long they stay in it, and how naturally they talk about it with friends.

The real question is whether your promotion can create a repeat habit, not just a one-time redemption.

This format is worth copying when you can tie the reward to a real place and keep redemption friction near zero.

It is also a rare example where “share with a friend” is not a marketing CTA. It is a gameplay action that carries the promotion with it.

Shopper activation moves to copy from iButterfly

  • Make the reward immediate. Catch. Unlock. Redeem. Long funnels kill the game loop, the simple repeat cycle of catch, unlock, redeem.
  • Use location as a story, not a filter. Place rewards where people already go, so the map feels meaningful.
  • Let sharing be part of the mechanic. A tradable object beats a generic “share this” button.
  • Keep the collection simple. If users need a manual, they will not hunt.

A few fast answers before you act

What is iButterfly?

iButterfly is a mobile coupon platform that turns deal collection into a location-based AR game. Users catch virtual butterflies on their phone and unlock coupons as rewards.

How does the AR coupon mechanic work?

Users view the real world through the phone camera. Virtual butterflies appear and can be “caught”. Each butterfly contains one or more offers, which unlock after capture.

Why is this relevant for shopper marketing?

It shifts promotions from passive browsing to active discovery. Location and gameplay increase attention, repeat usage, and the likelihood of in-the-moment redemption.

What makes it feel targeted rather than random?

Butterflies can be tied to locations and contexts via GPS. That links the offer to where the shopper is, not just who they are.

What is the biggest execution risk?

If redemption is hard or the rewards feel weak, the novelty wears off fast. The game loop only survives when the payoff is clear and friction stays low.