Target Fights with Virtual Snowballs

Target brought its digital savvy into stores this holiday season by incorporating brick-and-mortar elements into a winter-themed “Bullseye’s Playground” mobile game experience.Housed on a dedicated webpage (target.com/play), Bullseye’s Playground stars the retailer’s bull terrier mascot and other characters in several interactive games built around activities such as sledding, ice fishing and snowball fights.Shoppers can unlock characters and new game levels with codes found throughout stores on promotional signage including upfront standees as well as side panels positioned on endcaps and apparel racks.In four stores (in Chicago, Dallas, Roseville, MN, and Sunnyvale, CA) shoppers can play an enhanced version of the game via Google’s prototype Project Tango tablets. Available at select times, the immersive, augmented reality experience turns select store aisles into a 3D winter playground. Users can interact with Bullseye and engage in such virtual activates as taking part in a snowball fight. (Walgreens is currently using Project Tango for more utilitarian purposes. See "Walgreens Does ..." in Related Articles.)“Consumers are embracing mobile devices as an essential tool and we wanted to work with Target to show how mobile offers a way to make the in-store experience both fun and memorable,” Google’s director of creative partnerships Ben Malbon said in a media release.“With this partnership, we’re using cutting-edge mobile technology to elevate the in-store holiday experience to provide Target guests a glimpse into the future of retail – where mobile brings together virtual experiences and physical stores,” Target’s Alan Wizemann, vice president of product, Target.com and mobile, said in the release.A cause component has Target pledging $1 (up to $1 million) to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for every game played from Dec. 2-24. The game will be available through Dec. 31. While Target is no stranger to mobile games, this is the first time it has leveraged the capability for its annual St. Jude contribution. In recent years the retailer has instead sold Bullseye plush toys to raise funds each holiday. (See "Target's Bullseye ...")The games are accessible via mobile phones; desktop visitors instead see a video explaining the effort. (See below.) A Dec. 3 Facebook update supported.

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