The ATB Arena campaign revealed such a possibility to involve children by gamification, making collections and wow effect.

The main children’s task was to collect their own team of 34 superheroes that fought against evil forces. By installing the free ATB Arena app, they got access to a fully-fledged mobile game in AR with more than 500 game levels. The application allowed to ‘animate’ the character from the card and control the battle progress. Such a promo was especially relevant during the times of quarantine restrictions.

And parents didn’t have to think twice about making the child busy while they were at home. That is how new alternative types of exciting and interesting entertainment replaced old-fashioned games. The campaign took place in 3 stages from September 2020 to October 2021 in more than 1100 stores of the chain.

The first stage started on September 1, 2020 and lasted until October 13 with record results: 1.8 million downloads of the mobile game, which topped the rating of mobile applications within Ukrainian App Store and Play Market from the first days of the campaign.

Moreover, during the 1st stage large communities of game fans appeared on the Internet. The participants exchanged cards and shared their impressions. More than 1,000 video reviews were published on the YouTube platform by the participants.

As a result there was a significant increase in the products turnover and in the indicators of the average check for products of the ATB Market company suppliers that joined the campaign as partners.

The average daily turnover of suppliers' promotional goods increased by 50.5%, and the average daily number of promotional goods in the check increased by 57.7%. The total increase in sales of one of the promotional products during the campaign period showed a record 612%. In general, during the month and a half of the ATB Arena gamified campaign, the total number of goods in the average daily check increased by 10.6%.

After the 1st season the fans asked for a continuation of the story. The retailer responded to the request of the customers and we launched the next 2nd stage of the campaign with several updates. It took place from January 4 to February 7, 2021. In the new version, it was possible to collect 26 additional unique cards with superheroes. Moreover, participants were able to play with each other online. This gave the opportunity for safe, interesting and fun leisure activities during quarantine restrictions.

After 2 seasons, the heroes of a highly successful gamified campaign ATB Arena with augmented reality were back for the third time to amaze and entertain the participants with new opportunities. The ATB Market chain received a huge amount of positive feedback and requests for the continuation, and decided to launch a new season. So in September 2021, a surprise waited for schoolchildren and all fans of the story of magic and competition — in the 3rd season of ATB Arena, players were surprised with: 

• 35 new characters; 
• the ability to strengthen and improve the heroes; 
• a duel with the mystical dragon named Balthazar; 
• a guidebook to the world of ATB Arena Treasure Maps; 
• new card sets; 
• keychains with the most rare game characters and other curious stuff. So fans of the game continued to collect.

This is the first case in Ukraine, when as part of such a loyalty campaign a fully-fledged game universe with its own story was created along with a mobile application game and more than 90 unique heroes. ATB Arena Season 3 is ATB's answer to the expectations of the multi-million fan community of the game, which was formed during the previous seasons. ATB systematically approaches issues that are important and demanded by customers of the retail network. What’s more, the formation of new purchasing trends, the introduction of modern innovative solutions and additional customer services are an integral part of the retailer's development strategy.

This large-scale 3-seasoned ATB Arena project is not only about innovation, it is about building relationships with an audience of millions. And it is extremely valuable  to be involved in the creation of a new universe story, a blockbuster story. The company noted that the success of the campaign showed the effectiveness of the chosen marketing strategy and the result of a good understanding of the needs and interests of its customers. The global awareness of mobile games, the growing trend towards augmented reality and the increased needs for interactive content consumption are key success factors in the implementation of promo campaigns for the modern consumer.

After the successful launch in Ukraine, the ATB Arena promo campaign was also held in such retail chains as Magnum (Kazakhstan), Euroopt (Belarus), 2 Nabiji (Georgia).