The existing program was built on classroom structures: lecture and memorization. It felt like school. And school feels like work. But there are plenty of things you learn to do that don’t feel this way. Like learning to play a musical instrument, a game or activity. People just have more fun when they learn by doing. Our challenge was to take workshops from boring classroom to marquee attraction for the store. The potential business value is immense. These workshops drive store traffic — offering a new reason to visit beyond just shopping. And drive sales by exposing guests to related accessories.

We combined phones, apps and accessories into hands-on activities—to educate guests as we entertain them. Participants use the Vine app, custom props and scenes to make an animated holiday movie. Original characters and a suite of props were designed with animation tricks baked-in—making it easy for average people to create extraordinary animations. A custom fixture was engineered: complete with storage, lights, and an adjustable tray to hold your phone. New curricula—featuring visual “how-to” content was developed—making it easy to learn while doing. The result is a shift from the structured classroom, to learning through free-form creativity.

The pilot launched with the Verizon destination store opening at the Mall of America and ran throughout the 2013 holiday season. With Stop Motion Studio, we ushered in a new era of workshops that delight as they educate – creating new reasons to visit the store. Success was measured by customer experience: of the workshop participants surveyed, 100% said they had fun and 95% learned something new. 100% shared their creation on Vine and 95% said they would attend another workshop. This workshop is currently being scaled to multiple stores—and more workshops following this strategy are currently in production.