BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN DREAMS AND REALITY

Connections is a travel agency that was founded in 1986, and now has 30 locations all throughout Belgium. Needless to say, the company is a major competitor within the Belgium Travel Industry. In order to maintain their position in the market, they wanted to create an in-store experience that would do more than just display a map of the world or showcase static pictures of landscapes, like most of their competitors.

Connections decided to make their new concept store in the heart of Antwerp, the testing ground for this new project. They hoped that they could find a solution that would give users a dynamic and memorable experience.  This presented two formidable challenges. First, creating a digital showcase that was intriguing enough to engage visitors and visually transport them to their dream destination. Second the technical challenges of putting together a collage of displays that could integrate videos, photos and live feeds in real-time.

After researching several options  to try and bring these concepts  to fruition, Connections  reached out to YCD for the task, due to their exceptional reputation of delivering high-quality results and their established expertise with video wall installations. YCD and its partner ThisPlays2 worked closely with Connections’ interior design, marketing, and IT teams to create a multi-element video collage of 19 Samsung LED screens that displays dynamic destination videos, live weather forecasts, photos, tweets and Facebook information uploaded by Connections’ clients on their travels. The data streams are orchestrated by YCD’s C-nario software, in combination with Mediabutler.

The YCD video wall also provided up-to-the-minute information about Connections’ travel and in-store offers, along with flight rates, which change instantly and can be altered to reflect real-time rates in mere seconds. In addition, the entire installation is accompanied by a three-screen narrowcasting solution with an integrated queuing application and fully-synchronized background music.

With Connections’ idea of this incredible user experience in mind, YCD delivered a solution that was out of this world; taking consumers to destinations they had never even imagined.  In addition to delivering an astonishing display to their customers, the video wall also delivered with measurable impact on Connections’ bottom line.  Connections has seen holiday sales increase by 13.7% since installing the video collage. With its prominent and engaging nature, the high-tech display gives the store a cutting-edge atmosphere, all the while engaging consumers and lowering in-store customers’ perceived waiting time.

Patrick De Pauw, Marketing Director of Connections, describes the video wall as, “a living experience. By creating dedicated layers on the screen that reflect instant reality, a mirror of the real world- live temperatures, weather forecasts- visitors get a lively overview that is a lot more impressive than just a map of the world”.

In all, the installation resulted in a win for everyone involved, from the satisfied and entertained customers to the people who dedicate every day to making Connections the best company it can be. The goal of Connections Travel Agency is to deliver the ultimate dream-like experience to their multitude of consumers, and with this otherworldly video collage, YCD happily helped to make their dreams into reality.