Istanbul Grand Airport (IGA), in cooperation with Anzu and Tooplay, launched a campaign aimed at increasing the awareness of autism and social responsibility among children. This campaign consists of action plans that include real artwork, NFTs, and work towards the metaverse platform Roblox.
The innovative campaign transcended the digital and real worlds. Beginning with organizing workshops for children with autism and asking them to paint their imagination, the pictures were then used as part of an exhibition at the Istanbul Grand Airport.
To amplify the impact and interest of the artworks, they were animated and uploaded to digital AR platforms. Airport guests could then use AR technology to bring the designs to life during the exhibition. Moreover, many artworks were turned into NFTs and sold to raise money for the Turkish Autistic Support and Education Foundation (TODEV).
With the work carried out under the leadership of the Skala Medya digital team, İGA also brought these pictures to the metaverse game platform Roblox.
New ways to reach kids: Game and metaverse
Turkey is among the top 10 countries with the highest number of developers and active players within Roblox. Many kids also play various games on Roblox. Within the scope of the campaign, IGA Istanbul Airport aims to reach these children and raise awareness of autism by using Anzu’s in-game advertising technology.
Mertcan Tanaydı, Social & Digital Media Manager at Istanbul Grand Airport, said:
“Being able to bring the kids’ designs into the Roblox metaverse was an incredible feat. It propelled our campaign to new heights, providing it with national exposure across Turkey and beyond our borders. Roblox was a natural way for us to reach kids with this incredibly important awareness campaign and to help them learn from others their age. We will be looking to in-game advertising in the future as a robust, powerful, and non-disruptive way to reach players where they are – within their favorite games!”
Betül Gül, Senior Account Manager, Anzu, added:
“Gaming is a great medium to raise social awareness and education amongst kids. We’ve seen countless examples of brands leveraging this highly engaging form of entertainment, from building their own Animal Crossing islands to Fortnite takeovers to sponsored streaming.”
“The difference with Anzu’s in-game advertising solution is that it allows brands to quickly and easily enter the gaming world to reach millions of players directly from within their favorite mobile, PC, console, and Roblox titles. It has been amazing to see the success of Istanbul Grand Airport’s campaign, and I’m looking forward to working on similar projects as brands worldwide continue to realize the potential that in-game advertising offers.“
Games are areas where children and young users spend a long time. For this reason, it is beneficial to use in-game advertising technology for education and awareness. In addition, the use of blockchain and NFT technologies is expanding day by day. These kinds of studies for education and awareness are the kind of things we all want to see more of in the industry.
