Alipay's AR Innovation

Today Alipay launched the AR Scan-to-Grab-Red-Envelope feature, and suddenly lots of people nearby came to play this game together.

Here's a quick intro to the game:

1. Users can choose an object via Scan and bury a red envelope on it;
2. Based on geolocation, people nearby can see red envelopes around them;
3. Others can scan that item to activate the red envelope and claim the money;

Benefits for Alipay:

This is undoubtedly a novel campaign approach to boost Alipay's "social influence" (nearby users can also DM the person who sent the red envelope for clues). Users will try Alipay's red envelope feature just for fun.

So what factors led Alipay to use AR for this campaign?

• AR technology has been validated in the market. The overseas app Pokémon Go validated the market—this kind of AR is hugely popular with young people. They're very willing to try novel tech, and even share it to show they're tech-savvy.
• Viral spread. This game actually requires two people—one buries the red envelope, one hunts for it. That creates more interaction along the way and makes red envelopes more fun.
• Inspired by the book-dropping campaign—celebrities hid books in subway corners for fans to find, and it achieved good campaign results.
• Gamified interaction. This game actually requires two people—one buries the red envelope, one hunts for it. That creates more interaction and makes red envelopes more fun.
• Process-driven experience. Like all games, people enjoy the process, not just the result. Seeing red envelopes around you and trying again and again to scan them out is much more interesting than mindlessly grabbing WeChat red envelopes.

Summary:

The latest tech elements combined with gamification can make an ordinary game feel trendy, and make cold technology feel fun. In gamification, interaction matters especially—keeping a bit of "confusion" gives people more reason to interact.

Please use your phone's "Scan" feature x