Walk outside on a clear Texas night, and you'll see the blanket of stars covering the people and animals who call it home. This is the land we're proud of and are committed to protecting. H-E-B knew that with sustainability becoming more and more important to everyone,we wanted to share the history of commitment with our neighbors and inspire them to come along with us. Thus, the Our Texas Our Future campaign was born.
As part of this multi-dimensional omni-channel program, H-E-B knew we wanted to not only share how we were protecting our great state but tell stories about the WHY it mattered. We partnered with local award-winning documentarian Ben Masters to create a 5-part documentary series to tell the stories of the amazing Texas organizations and people working to conserve the environment and the species who call Texas home. Also, who doesn't love baby black bears wrestling in the wild or seeing one of the less than 100 ocelots in the world who call Texas home?
To raise awareness of these films showcasing complex wildlife challenges and evolving state landscape, H-E-B gave a voice to the critical native animals using augmented reality (AR), bringing the Texas Ocelot, Redfish, Mexican-Free Tail Bat, and Black Bear to action on a larger-than-life scale - bringing the wildlife of Texas to LIFE in the palm of your hand using augmented reality.
H-E-B wanted to bring the wild to Texans wherever they are and give them a chance to bring the great outdoors to life via an AR extension highlighting the stars of the documentary series. Launch the experience and enjoy the rolling river, the Texas sky with bats flying by, and of course, a black bear family playing with a Texas redfish - all stars of the documentary.
By spotlighting native Texas species using the height of consumer-facing technology in an online-obsessed world, the augmented reality art aimed to immerse Texans into the world of conservation, drive traffic to the docuseries, and build a connection between the innovative breakthrough tactic and H-E-B, showcasing our sustainability efforts and engaging Texans of all ages. Since the H-E-B Presents: Our Texas, Our Future Films docuseries premiered in Austin, a creative, tech-oriented city that over-indexes in young, eco-minded consumers & is known for high-impact street art, it was the perfect location for our AR mural.
The AR experience, built with Texas-based artists at Groove Jones, created awareness amongst eco-minded shoppers in our priority market of Austin, TX with a large-scale mural spanning a downtown, high-traffic corner of 5th & Waller St. The excitement furthered with a photo backdrop at the Austin City Limits (ACL) music festival in conjunction with Rock & Recycle and Austin Parks Foundation. ACL attracts 450,000 attendees and impressive headliners, from Kendrick Lamar to Shania Twain.
The mural was transformed into an exclusive limited-edition poster available at all 10 Alamo Drafthouse theater screenings showcasing the five-part docuseries and the additional rolling roadshow series at Guadalupe River State Park. Additionally scaled, community stakeholders, influencers, and customers interacted with endangered animals through an Instagram filter—transforming their immediate surroundings into a graphic, share-worthy masterpiece.
Beyond the OOH placement and experiential event feature, the mural will live permanently at our urban Austin store, located off the famous South Congress Avenue beginning in Fall 2024—showcasing our dedication front & center to shoppers as they enter the store, prompting further engagement & organic shares.
In addition, the filter was available for anyone! Simply launch with Instagram and instantly see the mural cover your living room wall while watching the documentary for an even more enriched experience.
The AR experience also leveraged the hit song “All I See Is You” from Texas-based musicians Shane Smith & The Saints, who both narrated and provided the soundtrack for the Texas State Park Centennial short film, connecting the offline experience to online.
By leveraging augmented reality, H-E-B boosted engagement with the efforts of Our Texas, Our Future, supporting resilient wildlife and Texas State Parks. In our priority market, the artwork drew buzz and garnered organic impressions across physical installations, a social filter, and Alamo Drafthouse screenings. This brought the endangered animals to the forefront, driving awareness towards the docuseries. Leveraging AR connected Texans to the environmental efforts dedicated to endangered wildlife and H-E-B's sustainability practices in a new way, improving brand perception and relevancy in our primary market.
Customers aged 18-34 in Austin and San Antonio, our targeted green markets, recorded a 39.6% increase in awareness of H-E-B’s commitment towards environmental efforts. In the same campaign study, 73.5% of those surveyed believed that H-E-B is very or extremely committed to the environment. Over 1,800 exclusive posters featuring the AR graphics across 16 screenings hosted in partnership with Alamo Drafthouse were gifted to community leaders, environmentally conscious influencers, and engaged customers.
They say everything is bigger in Texas, and so is H-E-B's committment to keeping it big and beautiful for years to come.
