The ‘Toys’ campaign was created to position Barclaycard as an innovative, forward-thinking provider of easy mobile payment. We wrapped this positioning in the idea that while choosing a gift is never easy, paying for it is thanks to Barclaycard.

To celebrate and show how Barclaycard makes the payment process easier our campaign brought together TV, Shazam technology and augmented reality. The culmination of the campaign activity came in the form of a pop-up toy shop on the streets of London.

The campaign started with the launch of an epic interactive Shazam powered TVC which viewers could tag to win prizes via a ‘life lottery’. The TVC broke the weekend of the 10th November during the height of X Factor fever.

Next up was the app which brought the stars of the TVC to life in the palm of your hand thanks to augmented reality and skin-tracking technology. The app was launched at an exclusive event, attended by influential tech, app and gaming bloggers and the event was closely followed by a mobile advertising campaign combined with extensive conversations and activity promoting the game on the various social channels. The final element of the campaign was the ‘Toys’ pop-up shop in London opened by the campaign hero, Mr B. The shop was the grand finale that brought the campaign to a close.

From the moment the campaign launched, it created a buzz. We saw an initial rush to win the toys featured in campaign and 30,000 plus tags of the Shazam powered TVC.

The app itself got to number 11 in the App Store chart within a week of the launch and now has over 100,000 downloads. It also came third in Campaign’s Apps of the Year 2012. As a result of the campaign we also saw a rise in engagement on Barclaycard Facebook page.

This success culminated with the widespread PR coverage of the Toys Unleashed pop-up shop where Mr B’s friend David Walliams lent a hand to ensure the campaign ended with playful bang. Unpinning all of this is the knowledge that the campaign achieved deeper brand engagement and reinforced the concept that Barclaycard is an innovative, forward-thinking brand.