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Case Study: John Deere
Introducing Visit John Deere - The App Experience!
We asked the John Deere team the most exciting thing about their new mobile guide:
"It’s impossible to pick just one. We started from the understanding that people experience and interact in different ways, and that we wanted to offer an additional way to digitally expand our on-site experiences. For the first time ever, we can now offer self-guided audio tours of the John Deere Historic Site and John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum. There is a John Deere Pavilion scavenger hunt for the kids, and featured treasures from the vaults of the John Deere Archives. Users will also hear from important voices from John Deere history and learn about John Deere’s vision for the future in new and exciting ways. But if I had to pick one, I’m excited for the augmented reality experiences that will supplement our self-guided tours. Now we can use technology to bring our past and present to life in a different way, and to include our visitors in the story."
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John Deere is a globally recognized brand and its iconic leaping deer logo ubiquitous. Their fanbase “bleeds green” and can be found in every corner of the world. What many fans do not know, is that John Deere was a real man, a blacksmith and is credited for creating the first steel plow. The obstacle for telling the John Deere story is that there are three different sites that are integral in uncovering the world of John Deere, and they can be difficult for fans to get to. Visitors can explore the excavation site and homestead where the original plow was forged, at the Tractor & Engine Museum that explore the evolution of the company, and the Pavilion dive into the tech-forward & sustainability-focused future of John Deere today. The Branded Experience team looked to Guru Experience Co. to help create an experiential app to explore all these stories and more.
Working together, in true partnership.
"Guru Experience Co. has provided an immersive service, built on deep industry expertise and experience. We have been thrilled to truly partner with the entire team and have been impressed with their technical abilities and passion for the John Deere brand."-Neil Dahlstrom, Branded Properties & Heritage Manager
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The Solution
Guru Experience Co. created a location aware multi-site app to keep all the John Deere stories in one convenient app download, but curated and separated into their own unique guide experiences. In doing so, we are able to cater to the onsite visitors, who are looking to take an audio tour at one of the sites, or do a scavenger hunt, quiz or other game to enhance their visit.
For offsite fans, and to keep visitors onsite engaged with the app post-visit, there is an archives site-section. Here users can dive into highlights of the massive collection of historic tractor models, vintage toys, advertisements, and more. The curiosities that fans can find are endless and the stories behind them are narrated by none other than the head archivist and John Deere expert Neil Dahlstrom.
The app allows visitors and remote fans alike to dive deeper into the stories of the brand than ever before. Users can even design their own John Deere hat in the app, and snap a selfie with the AR filter to share on social media. With push notifications, fans can be notified whenever new episodes in the archives section are live as well, to encourage repeated app use. Ongoing content creation, gamification and AR means that there will consistently be something new to learn and experience in the Visit John Deere app.