LIGHT SAVER

Bronze Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleLIGHT SAVER
BrandEMART
Product / ServiceLIGHT SAVER
CategoryC05. Customer Retail / In-Store Experience
EntrantCHEIL WORLDWIDE Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
Idea Creation CHEIL WORLDWIDE Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
Media Placement CHEIL WORLDWIDE Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
PR CHEIL WORLDWIDE Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
Production ALLEYSQUARE Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
Post Production GIANT STEP Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
Additional Company SOMERZ SOUND Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

Credits

Name Company Position
Jongmin Kim Cheil Worldwide Creative Director
Changkyu Oh Cheil Worldwide Copywriter
Jinwoo Ryu Cheil Worldwide Art Director
Dongeon Lee Cheil Worldwide Art Director
Joohong Min Cheil Worldwide Account Director
Jeaheon Song Cheil Worldwide Account Manager
Youngjin Heo Cheil Worldwide Account Executive
HYUNJUNG SHIN MUDCAKE Director
HEEWON SONG MUDCAKE Assistant of Director
JANGPIL CHOI ALLEYSQUARE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
SANGHOON LEE ALLEYSQUARE Producer
DAEHYUN CHOI GIANT STEP EDITOR
YOUNGJIN JEON SOMERZ SOUND SOUND DESIGNER

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, this campaign communicates the message of commitment to the safe management of stores and rigorous disinfection efforts through a participatory experience, rather than through one-way communication media. By reinventing a shopping cart handle, customers’ first point of physical contact with E-Mart, we ensured that E-Mart’s wholehearted dedication to customer safety is made palpable in this campaign.

Background

People are overwhelmed by the omnipresent danger of virus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, as grocery and household items need to be seen and checked in person before their purchase, customers often resort to visiting the grocery store despite the reluctance. Therefore, EMART, Korea’s leading in-person grocery store chain, needed an original idea in shopping that allows customers to come shop with peace of mind, yet does not interfere with their shopping experience.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We thought that if shopping cart handle, which might be laden with various viruses, can be revamped into a tool for eliminating viruses, we would not have to require extra inconvenient measures and actions from customers to give them a sense of security. So, EMART invents unheard-of shopping cart. LIGHT SAVER with its design that resembles lightsabers in the movie “Star Wars” and disinfects the hands and cart handles throughout shopping time by emitting germicidal rays that are harmless to human body.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

EMART paid attention to shopping cart handles to protect customers from viruses, without getting in the way of their shopping experience. According to statistics, shopping cart handle is where customers lay their hands most frequently and for the longest time. Due to its high-touch nature, recently, customers are increasingly using disinfectants before shopping, spraying and then wiping it off the cart handle. We thought that if shopping cart handle, which might be laden with various viruses, can be revamped into a tool for eliminating viruses, we would not have to require extra inconvenient measures and actions from customers to give them a sense of security. Therefore, EMART decided to create this unheard-of shopping cart which ensures the safety of the user, other customers, and the entire store by simply rolling it through the aisles.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The reason why LIGHT SAVER is an innovative novelty lies within its ground-breaking re-design of traditional shopping carts by revamping their handles, which carry the highest risk of virus transmission, into ones that eliminate viruses on spot. In collaboration with an enterprise specializing in the germicidal radiation technology, we developed a cart handle capable of emitting germicidal rays that are harmless to human body and attached 300 LIGHT SAVERs to EMART’s existing shopping carts. One of the EMART stores in the greater Seoul metropolitan area was selected to launch the campaign on November 19th, 2020. LIGHT SAVER-loaded carts were placed inside the store throughout the business hours, prompting customers to utilize the carts on a voluntary basis, without additional guidance. The launch of the campaign was announced on the official social media accounts of the store and was extensively covered in the media.

List the results (30% of vote)

According to the measured results, from the opening to the closing of the store, numerous customers used shopping carts loaded with LIGHT SAVERs, and the viral load of cart handles and customers’ hands was reported to have decreased. In the comparison of the month when COVID-19 caused a drastic decrease in customer turnout and in-store shopping time and the month when the campaign was executed, the most noticeable outcomes included: 11.6% increase in in-store customers 12.7% increase in each customer’s average purchase amount per visit 25.8% sales increase in EMART stores running the campaign In this sense, LIGHT SAVER proved to not only mitigate the anxiety of customers but also boosted the actual sales of EMART. Also with an increase in brand favorability rating. A high volume of customer requests has been made to expand the coverage of the campaign to include more stores.