Globetrotter celebrates its 40th birthday with a hyper-reality adventure

Globetrotter wants to make a real splash for its 40th anniversary. The outdoor retailer is spending around 2 million euros on its birthday activities - the majority of which will go towards a Virtual reality roadshowwhich, according to Matthias Schwarte, Head of Marketing at Globetrotter, has never existed in this form in Germany before.

It is not surprising per se that an outdoor brand wants to inspire its customers with a VR experience. Swiss outfitter Mammut launched its now award-winning "#Project360" five years ago, which allows users to experience various mountain expeditions or the latest Collection from a 360-degree perspective. "VR is really nothing special in our sector anymore. We are constantly being offered this as an event module by our suppliers," confirms Schwarte. However, these projects are not comparable to what Globetrotter is planning. "Many VR experiences only offer the user minimal control options and are hardly interactive. It's usually a 360-degree film that can be viewed from different angles. For us, this is very far removed from a real experience."

Globetrotter instead wants to offer fans of the brand an immersive adventure with physical interaction options that will give them goosebumps. The company has enlisted the Hamburg-based brand film subsidiary Infected and its Wedel-based sister company Woodland Studios as partners.

The adventure box

The Infected team has constructed a black box in which up to two visitors, equipped with HTC Vive goggles and a technology-filled Globetrotter-backpack, can go on tour. The box is equipped with wooden planks, ropes and handles, among other things. Warm air and vibrations are also designed to make the "adventurers" believe that they are really on the dangerous Huashan Trail, looking down into the abyss from a dizzying height or ending their adventurous hiking tour with an exciting ride in a hot-air balloon.

The total number of parts built into the box is unprecedented for a VR experience in Germany. Around 15 artists and developers have been working for four months on the realisation of the VR adventure, whose game components were implemented using the Unreal Gaming Engine.

The premiere took place on 18 September in Hamburg, with support from the press, celebrities and influencers. After Hamburg, the box will go on tour in Germany, stopping off at major shops in Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart and Munich. Tickets can already be purchased on the Globetrottercan be pre-ordered on the website. Schwarte expects that around 100 customers and interested parties will be able to experience the VR adventure every day. By the end of the roadshow in January, he hopes to reach around 100,000 people - with even more to be reached via the Globetrotter-community found out about it on social media. The roadshow is basically a commitment to the local shops: "We also want to show how seriously we take bricks-and-mortar retail," explains Schwarte.

The roadshow will end with Ispo 2020, which takes place from 26 to 29 January. However, that doesn't mean that the special Globetrotter constructed VR adventure box is then scrapped. "The box has a reference character and could also work with other experiences," Westerwelle is certain.

Source: Horizon / Globetrotter