Launching the City of Thorn

City of Thorn is a first-of-its-kind interactive tool that has been specifically developed to make it as easy as possible for customers to find the products and information they need. Represented as a 3D city and hosted on a dedicated microsite, City of Thorn is divided into six areas: Education, Industry, Retail, Sports, Urban & Architectural and Road & Street. Selecting one of these areas allows the user to see the lighting applications within that sector and view key product information and specifications.

As Thorn approached the launch of City of Thorn, its global marketing team engaged with CIB to develop a launch strategy that would reach the target market of lighting designers, specifiers and installers in the most effective way. Importantly all activity and marketing assets had to be adaptable for use internationally by the regional Thorn marketing teams.

We developed a multi-channel strategy, making use of paid, owned and earned media to raise awareness of the launch as widely as possible. This included a launch video showcasing the engaging city visuals and the simplicity of finding the right information. This was promoted through Thorn Lighting’s social media channels where followers were directed to try the new tool for themselves.

We also developed two pieces of physical content that could be used and handed out when the Thorn Lighting team met customers at trade shows and events. The first was an innovative piece that incorporated a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip to launch the City of Thorn site directly when a phone was placed on the card.

Secondly, building on the concept of a city, we created a high-quality Z-fold map showing the City of Thorn with a QR code to allow quick and easy access to the site. Working with an animation studio, we developed a stop motion video based on the map for use on Instagram. The videos and physical promotional materials were all designed to make translation and use in different countries as simple as possible.

To support the launch in the UK, we also targeted key trade publications with traditional public relations activity and advertising. This included a branded bellyband in the Lighting Journal that opened to a high impact double page advert showing the City of Thorn.

The launch was a huge success with hundreds of visits to the City of Thorn microsite within hours of the official launch and more than 4,000 views in the first four weeks. Initial feedback from customers has been positive, with them enjoying the new, simpler way of exploring Thorn’s comprehensive range of solutions.