Noche Shopping at DOT: three executions for the same date

For Noche Shopping, one of the most important retail dates of the year for DOT Baires Shopping, the shopping center went out with three different executions, produced by FeedGuru: a main audiovisual piece, a pixel art version that turns the facade into a video game's start screen and a carousel where the swipe gesture is part of the idea.

What Noche Shopping is and what DOT needed

Noche Shopping is a date with very heavy advertising competition. DOT needed to drive visits and communicate promotions, hours and benefits within a very specific commercial window.

The risk of a date like this is well known: that the communication ends up as a string of discounts and looks like any other shopping center's that same week. The challenge was to give the day an identity of its own and sustain it across several pieces without repeating itself.

A shopping center's retail dates are planned as part of a year, as the shopping center retail calendar shows. This case shows how to work on just one of those dates with more than one language.

The main piece: Noche Shopping as a marathon

The main audiovisual piece for Noche Shopping at DOT portrayed the date as a marathon. Visitors get ready, go through the shopping center, find deals and pile up bags while the pace of the story builds.

Production combined footage of the shopping center, artificial intelligence, editing, motion graphics and sound. The order mattered: the piece entertains first and organizes the promotional information afterwards, so the information arrives when the person is already watching.

According to information shared by the client, the campaign accompanied one of DOT's Noche Shopping editions with the strongest commercial performance. That result cannot be attributed to a single piece, because a date like this depends on many variables.

Press Start: DOT's facade as a video game screen

A high-frequency campaign needs variety. DOT was looking for a second execution that would sit alongside the main piece and draw attention from a different code.

In Press Start, the pixel art version, DOT's facade becomes the start screen of a retro video game, and "Press Start" works as the call to action. The event stops being presented as a date and starts to feel like a game that is about to begin. It was made with art direction, pixel art, illustration, animation and motion graphics.

Changing technique within the same campaign did not mean changing studios. Strategic continuity was kept because the same team thought out both pieces.

The carousel: an idea that is completed by swiping

The third execution was not a video. It took a trend that was working on social media, "Estoy a esto de" (I'm this close), and brought it to Noche Shopping. A person appears covered in shopping bags and only shows a hand making the gesture that something is very close. The text is revealed as you move through the slides until the sentence is complete.

The format was chosen because it served the idea: the interaction of the person swiping replaces the movement of a video. If a simple piece meets the objective better, there is no need to produce one more video. The criteria for short formats on social media are in reels for brands.

What this case leaves for another retail date

• A strong date allows more than one execution. Varying the language helps the campaign not repeat itself in a week of high frequency.

• Each piece with its own job. The main one tells the night, Press Start adds attention from another code and the carousel takes advantage of a social media conversation.

• The format comes from the idea. Video, pixel art or carousel are chosen according to what each piece has to achieve.

• Trends have a short window. Taking up a cultural code while it is alive requires a team that can decide and produce quickly. It is the logic of real-time marketing.

For the overall picture of which pieces a shopping center needs during the year, there is the guide to video for shopping centers.

Frequently asked questions

What is Noche Shopping?

Noche Shopping is a shopping night with special hours, promotions and benefits at the participating shopping centers, including DOT Baires Shopping. For each shopping center it is a short and highly contested window, where communication has to drive visits and, at the same time, give the day an identity of its own that does not end up as a list of discounts.

Why make three different pieces for the same date?

Because a high-frequency campaign needs variety so it does not repeat itself. In Noche Shopping with DOT, the main piece told the night as a marathon, Press Start drew attention from a video game code and the carousel took advantage of a social media trend. Each execution had a different job, and all three shared the same date and the same commercial objective.

When is a carousel better than a video?

When the idea is completed by the interaction of the viewer. In the Noche Shopping carousel, the text is revealed as the person swipes, and that gesture replaces the movement of a video. It is also a good choice when a simpler, social piece is needed alongside audiovisual content. The format is chosen for the idea and for the objective of each piece.

The marathon, Press Start and the carousel can be seen side by side in the DOT Baires Shopping projects.