RICHMOND REGION TOURISM

POE MUSEUM AR ACTIVATION

Richmond Region Tourism enriches the lives of the area’s residents and visitors by sharing the unique culture and humanity that is the Richmond region. Focused on generating economic prosperity through tourism by attracting conventions, meetings, sports tournaments, and visitors — ensuring that all have an unforgettable experience. Richmond Region Tourism partnered with Shockoe to create immersive experiences for visitors and residents through captivating activations that showcase the region’s rich history, vibrant art scene, and unique neighborhoods.

RICH(MOND) IN HISTORY

Shockoe’s internal principle of “Look Up” guided the creation of an AR experience to elevate the region’s charm, engage audiences, and foster deeper connections between Richmond and its diverse visitors.

01 THE CHALLENGE

02 THE SOLUTION

03 THE RESULTS

01
THE CHALLENGE

Richmond Region Tourism and Shockoe partnered to define, create, and launch a digital experience that highlights the Poe Museum and Edgar Allen Poe’s connection to the Richmond area.

STEP 1

Plan, Assess, and Design

Define business goals, customer needs, and digital execution plans

STEP 2

Develop, Test, and Repeat

Creating intuitive, on-brand solutions, focusing on quality and scalability

STEP 3

Release and Maintenance

Supporting launch and maintenance across devices and platforms

THE SOLUTION

Moving beyond traditional tourism.

Bringing History to Life

With the rich history of the area, the approach was to target visitors and locals, including dark tourists, students, and literary fans. Richmond’s Poe Museum was a culturally relevant intersection of these targets.

Bridging the Past and Present: Creating respectful and informative content while also being contemporary and relevant to audiences, leveraging connections to pop culture (like the TV show Wednesday).
Driving Physical Traffic: The goal was to drive visitor behavior, specifically enabling museum visits, exploring tangential sites, and encouraging destination travel to Richmond.

Mysterious & Spooky Richmond Region

Just in time for the spooky season and Halloween, Visit Richmond VA introduced an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience featuring the animated bust of Edgar Allan Poe at the Poe Museum.

Through AR technology, Poe’s likeness comes to life as he speaks about the strange and surprising attractions in the region, gives interesting facts about himself, quotes his poem “The Raven,” and introduces visitors to the Poe Museum. Guests can interact on-site at the museum or summon him anywhere through their mobile device, extending the eerie encounters beyond the museum walls.

THE RESULTS