How Arrow Boosted Brand Engagement at CES

Posted; December 14, 2019

Fortune 500 company Arrow used Ultraleap’s touchless technology to bring their brand story to life at CES 2019. They combined hand tracking with mid-air haptics to create an interactive brand experience in the form of a touchless digital installation.

Arrow works with the world’s leading technology manufacturers. The installation showcased their Create, Make, Manage Technology theme in a fresh, memorable way that significantly boosted brand engagement.

The Create, Make, Manage interactive brand experience ... brought our vision for CES to life. Their innovative haptic technology pulled visitors in, created engagement with the Arrow brand, and helped to position Arrow as a company at the forefront of innovation.

Kathleen Timbol - Product Marketing Manager, Arrow

Background

Arrow is a global provider of electronics products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial markets. The company aggregates electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. It maintains a network of more than 350 locations serving over 80 countries.

The yearly CES show in Las Vegas is the global stage introducing next-generation innovations to the marketplace. Eureka Park is the area of the show that hosts 1,200 start-ups from every corner of the globe.

For CES 2019, Arrow’s plan was to be at the heart of Eureka Park. The stand would showcase how Arrow’s engineers, design tools, marketing, distribution services, and supply chain expertise support entrepreneurs.

The Challenge

Arrow supports entrepreneurs at every stage of the product lifecycle. Their theme for CES 2019 was Create, Make, Manage Technology. The ambition was to create a digital installation that would showcase this in an engaging, fresh, and memorable way.

The Haptic Technology Solution

Ultraleap’s touchless haptic technology controls ultrasound waves to create tactile sensations in mid-air. No controllers or wearables are needed: ultrasonic speakers project tactile effects directly onto a user’s hands.

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaigns typically mount the STRATOS Inspire haptic module in front of a screen. The module includes both a Leap Motion Controller for hand tracking and ultrasonic speakers.

The haptic module creates a three-dimensional tactile interaction zone in mid-air in front of the screen. Customers can interact with content using 3D gestures. As they do so, they experience corresponding tactile sensations on their hands.

Arrow commissioned Ultraleap to develop a complete interactive experience for CES 2019. This included the development of haptic sensations, gameplay, CGI visuals, and accompanying audio.

The ARROW DOOH Brand Experience

Ultraleap developed and delivered a number of gamified experiences showcasing the ways Arrow supports entrepreneurs.

The Results

Over the four days of CES 2019 there were around 25,000 engagements with the four DOOH screens showing the experiences Ultraleap developed.

Ultraleap technology at Arrow's CES booth

Quividi anonymous audience tracking software gathered analytics. This showed that over 50% of passers-by glanced at or dwelled with the content. Average attention time for the interactive experience with haptics was more than 80% higher than the Quividi benchmark figure for non-interactive DOOH.

The installation contributed to a very successful CES for Arrow, with a significant increase in Arrow’s media coverage and social media exposure.

You can see how busy it is … it just draws people in. People want to participate because it’s a new technology. They’ve never seen haptics before and because it’s so fun and inviting it brings more people in.

Liz Jones - Marketing Coordinator, Arrow

Arrow is now looking to leverage the interactive haptic DOOH experience at other events and locations.