U-Power rolls out a new Lifestyle collection with Aryel, blending omnichannel reach with AR-powered Display Ads

Amidst intense competition, how does U-power, a top player in protective gear, break into a new consumer segment?

U-Power, renowned for its innovative safety and workwear solutions, faced a unique challenge: to launch its new sneaker lifestyle line, Urban, and establish a presence in the consumer market. Despite being known primarily for its focus on producing personal protective equipment and safety footwear for the workplace, U-Power aimed to establish a strong presence in this new market space. Teaming up with Aryel, U-Power embarked on a mission to reshape the traditional digital shopping experience. 

The goal was clear: to use cutting-edge technology to grab consumers’ attention while enhancing sneaker fans’ online shopping experience, further leveraging on the buzz of their recent commercial, featuring celebrities such as Diletta Leotta and John Travolta.

What will you learn from this customer story:

• U-Power’s goal: to grab consumers’ attention on Urban, its new sneaker line
• Going beyond expectations: U-Power’s commitment to redefining the boundaries of footwear innovation
• From concept to creation: how Aryel brought unprecedented level of details to product exploration with AR
• Shoe-size style: AR impact in reshaping digital footwear offer

U-Power’s ambition was to establish a strong presence in the B2C market by empowering the launch of Urban, its new sneaker line, with an innovative communication edge that would grab the attention of this new target audience.

Their goal was to offer consumers a more informed purchasing decision by allowing them to explore their products in detail, providing an interactive, innovative, and entirely new digital shopping experience.

Aryel has embraced a tailor-made approach, to say the least, in the shoes’ 3D production, reproducing with extreme faithfulness and accuracy all the individual parts that make up the shoes. They then have been embedded into unique end-card and split display formats, allowing users to explore different versions of the product directly within the banner, while simultaneously watching the famous commercial featuring testimonials Diletta Leotta and John Travolta.

Users could select the preferred shoes model directly in the banner, interacting with it to explore every detail. Aryel’s 3D creatives pushed user interaction to levels never seen before, significantly increasing the content’s reach. This approach emphasizes the distinctive quality and design of the sneakers.

The campaign was run in programmatic and proved to be extremely effective, prompting its extension in Italy and expansion to other countries such as France and Spain.

In addition to the Display campaign, U-Power also integrated the sneakers’ 3D models into its website, extending the interactive experience to its owned channels. This strategic approach allows users to fully explore every single aspect of the Urban sneakers, providing an enhanced and more conscious shopping experience that transcends traditional online shopping.

Moreover, for the primary shoe in the line, an animated model has been integrated on the website, which in scrolling the page rotates 360 degrees with a particular and highly impressive wow effect.

Augmented Reality (AR) technology is reshaping the digital footwear market, offering immersive experiences that empower consumers to interact with shoes like never before.

Through product visualization, AR minimizes purchase friction by providing users with a virtual preview, a virtual sample, of the product, enabling them to make more informed and conscious purchasing decisions.

This approach accelerates the sales process, reduces returns, and enhances customer satisfaction, all crucial aspects to ensure businesses an effective return on investment.

Furthermore, interacting with Shoe 3D models yields valuable first-party data. Heatmaps, powerful neuromarketing tools, can be generated to analyze user interaction with 3D models in banners. These anonymized and GDPR-compliant data help understand the most relevant and interesting product aspects for potential buyers, allowing for the refinement and redefinition of product offerings and features to align with target desires.

Moreover, the distribution of WebAR solutions through organic channels reaches a broader audience, increasing brand awareness and making it distinctive.

As consumers increasingly prioritize digital interactions, AR emerges as a revolutionary and democratic force in e-commerce, combining personalization, innovation, data enrichment, and differentiation.