An innovative storytelling experience from a Swedish entertainment company is being rolled out across supermarkets with the goal of keeping children amused while shopping. An innovative storytelling experience from a Swedish entertainment company is being rolled out across supermarkets with the goal of keeping children amused while shopping. And it’s already succeeding in this aim, thanks in no small part to Pickup audio-guide technology from Dataton. Storytrail is the brainchild of Anna Lantz, CEO of children’s media production company Maj Maj Måne. “We have worked with and for children for many years, and always emphasised storytelling as an important part of learning,” Lantz explains. “We wanted to find a way to make everyday life with children as smooth as possible, pinpointing the stress factors many families have in their lives – for example, going grocery shopping.” “We developed Storytrail as a concept that would keep children occupied, entertained and amused in a retail environment, in a way that would keep them with their parents but also relieve much of the parents’ stress.” In September 2012, the Storytrail idea was taken up by Sweden’s ICA Kvantum supermarket chain. The roll-out has so far involved over 30 stores, with more to come. “Families collect the equipment for Storytrail – a pair of headphones and a Dataton Pickup unit – when they enter the store,” says Lantz. “Throughout the store there are nine ‘Storypoints’ – signs that contain Dataton Microtags to act as the trigger for a new audio chapter in the Storytrail for kids to listen to. To make it easy for the children to find the Storypoints, we designed additional signs around the store and little footprints on the ground, underlining the idea that the kids are following a trail.” For ICA Kvantum, Maj Maj Måne created a story using characters already used by the retail chain in its marketing. New stories involving these characters are recorded every other week, so that children always have a new Storytrail to look forward to when they go shopping. Research from Sweden’s Linnaeus University suggests that more than half of children are quieter when using Storytrail in a shopping environment, that parents’ stress levels are reduced by over 20%, and that 85% of parents would choose to shop at a location with Storytrail installed, over one without. “Storytrail is a fantastic example of how our Pickup audio-guide technology can bring tangible and immediate business benefits to our customers,” comments Lars Sandlund, chief operating officer of Dataton. “Affordable, easy to install and above all very simple to use, Pickup is finding new applications every day.” Photography by Peter Sporremark, © Maj Maj Måne www.dataton.com
