A Product Experience In Lapland
When we were asked to send a team of HEL’s brand ambassadors to Lapland to support Huawei in showcasing their outstanding new product demonstrations, we honestly could not have been more thrilled. Our Angel Cai describes his experience below…
What do HEL’s, AI-Powered Apps and Record-Breaking Smart Phones have in common?
They have all just been on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Lapland!
It was all part of a revolutionary product experience by Huawei *Pronounced “Wah-Way”.(Some common mispronunciations include “Hawaii” or, in the case of my first attempt: “Hooaweeahweiowerr?”)
For those who haven’t heard, Huawei is a telecoms company that is quickly taking over the Smart Phone market. They have stormed ahead in the last 2-3 years by creating some of the best-selling and innovative phones on the planet.
As part of their launch campaign for the new Mate 20 Pro, and to show off the phone’s outstanding dual-core AI processing power (basically, meaning “It’s super-fast!”) they have created an app called StorySign. StorySign helps deaf children learn to read by translating books into sign language, in real time. Pointing the phone at a book, it reads the words straight off the page, and then it displays an animated character called Star, who can sign in 7 different languages revolutionising story time for thousands of children.
Many of the 32 million deaf children across the world find it especially hard to learn to read, so this technology will be somewhat of a Christmas Miracle for many families. That’s why Huawei decided to whisk away a lucky group of families and media, to this magical part of Northern Finland for the app’s first unveiling and an amazing product experience. But not before enlisting the help of a crack team of HEL’s, to make sure the guests got the most out of their product experience!
That’s right, it was up to us to travel to the dark, wintery home of Father Christmas to assist Huawei in a weekend-long demonstration. What’s more, we didn’t even have to dress up as Elves! Our job was to gain a broad understanding of the Mate 20 Pro, and then guide guests through set up and use over their stay.
They didn’t name it the MATE 20 Pro for nothing, and Huawei wanted this experience to embody their product’s personal and attentive touch. The phone is capable of using its built-in intelligence to foresee the user’s needs and act accordingly, so the same was expected of us. We listened to the guests and offered solutions and suggestions that could help them get the most out of their product experience and discover the full potential of the phone.
If the guests went tobogganing, we were showing them the 920fps Super Slow Motion Camera. If they were stroking reindeer, we showed them how the AI could identify those reindeer and show suggestions for reindeer-related items online. And, of course, when they had a selfie with Santa, we made sure they knew about all the quirky filters that the Huawei Mate 20 Pro had to offer.
This amazing opportunity gave us the chance to work with a world-changing brand, in a breathtaking country and give an unforgettable product experience to children and adults alike.
The HEL’s team were on hand from breakfast, as guests customised their devices over stacks of freshly made pancakes or slow-cooked meatballs, until after dinner when they might want to ‘Huawei Share’ the best of the day’s photos with their friends.
There were stories told by a Shaman around a campfire; wood-fired saunas and ice river plunges; meeting sledge dogs, and cross-country skiing were just some of the incredible experiences that made this trip a pleasure to work on.
If you are feeling a little green with envy for not having joined us, that’s perfectly understandable. In fact, green is also the colour of the HEL’s Logo, Original Santa, and of course The Northern Lights so, in a way, you are sharing in the experience!
Discover the magic of StorySign with Huawei’s stunning Christmas advert here
