Why is this work relevant for Innovation?

With the fear of the pandemic and movement restrictions cancelling events and threatening the very livelihood of our street food vendors, we came up with an innovative approach to our annual Street Food event that champions this vital pillar of national heritage by catering to the needs of consumers stuck at home but still craving their beloved street food. We replicated the experience of an actual street food festival in a virtual world, and further enhanced it with innovative features only available in a digital space, allowing Malaysians to enjoy their beloved street food from the safety of their homes.

Background

Inspired by web-based multiplayer gaming platforms, we create a breathtaking virtual environment to house the festival experience. To ensure a memorable experience that’s easily accessible to anyone, anywhere, we designed and developed a browser-based, mobile-optimized, multi-user, immersive virtual environment with over 1000 uniquely customizable avatars. Our web-based multiplayer virtual engine was pushed even further to support the visual design and effects, spatial sound, interactivity, and timed events that brought to life a night festival with a significant following. Differences across software and hardware platforms required deep optimizations. At the same time, it took countless hours to bring the user experience to a level befitting the history of the Tiger Street Food Festival.

Describe the idea

As consumers are confined within their own homes and cannot go out, we decided to take the Tiger Street Food Festival to new heights by recreating the food festival experience in the digital world. Users can log on to our virtual Tiger Street Food Festival site and experience the fun, vibrant festival experience from the safety of their homes. From interacting with their friends and family by competing for a high score with our mini-games, or being entertained by a few of our acts like Namewee, and of course, ordering their beloved street food with Tiger Beer and having it sent to their doorsteps within this fully-immersive 3D online street food festival.

What were the key dates in the development process?

Feb 2020 - Finalise concept. Mar-Apr 2020 - Identify street food vendors to participate in the street food festival. Movement control Order happen in March till June 2020. Decided to move on to the digital platform and this is when the Virtual Tiger Street Food Festival came a life. June to Aug 2020 - Development and testing of the Virtual world 14 Sep 2020 - Go Live

Describe the innovation / technology

In the true Tiger spirit of uncaging unexpected possibilities, we created the Tiger Street Food Virtual Festival – the world’s first, fully-immersive 3D online street food festival experience. Much more than just another food delivery platform, users could customize their avatar, stroll down 3D streets, interact with others and browse from 88 vendor stalls before ordering street food and Tiger beer directly to their doorsteps. Replicating the full ‘festival’ experience and driving engagement, were games and activities hosted by Celebrity KOLs, and even a virtual performance from popular music artist Namewee which saw 25,000 visitors turn up on launch night. Intricate details such as ambient street sound added to the immersion, while distinct streets based on different Malaysian regions made it relevant to consumers nationwide.

Describe the expectations / outcome

Over 280,000 unique visits to our website against a target of 100,000. Over 25,000 sign-ups, 37,000 users played games with an average gameplay time of 4 minutes and over 25,000 spectators at Namewee virtual performance, over 25% of which returned to the Virtual Festival repeatedly. There is a tremendous boost to our Brand Health Attribute Scores: +5 points for “Brands for People like Me” +4 points for “Beer that goes well with Food” +3 points for “More Distinctive Brand Image” The campaign has also garnered a lot of talkability with over 100 PR coverage generated, achieving 97% Measurement of the quality of articles. We grew our sales through Drinkies by 41% (target +20%) vs the past 3 months with a 43% month-on-month growth for November 2020 and generated over RM275,000 in revenue throughout the 12-day campaign, not to mention the incremental sales made by the street food vendor themselves.