VISIT PITTSBURGH gashapon machine
A traveling, whimsical gashapon machine delivers adorable Pittsburgh-themed miniatures and generates custom AI itineraries.
We helped bring VisitPITTSBURGH’s broader digital campaign, “Pittsburgh will surprise you,” to life, with echoes of their bright, bold new brand wrapped into an engaging, fun, tour-able experiential campaign that showed out-of-towners everything the Steel City has to offer.
Our custom-built dispensation mechanism featured ramps with the Fort Pitt and Rachel Carson Bridges - quintessential city landmarks - and a Ferris Wheel, invented by a Pittburgher in 1893. Attendees toggled through quiz questions and selected answers using a button and dial, and turned a large mechanical crank to reveal their mini. Itineraries were printed immediately from a custom printer.
Pittsburgh Personas included:
Pierogi - “The Foodie”
Neighborly Sweater - “The Aesthete”
Terrible Towel - “The Fan”
Rover - “The Techie”
Incline - “The Urban Adventurer”
In addition to receiving a mini with its corresponding character card, guests also received a printed, AI-generated itinerary tailored to their tastes. To create the itineraries, we trained our AI model on guides from the VisitPITTSBURGH website; this ensured that each attendee received highly unique, customized suggestions pulled from hundreds of potential activities.
Nearby, at a mini photoshoot stand, guests took pics of their new tiny friends against the Pittsburgh skyline.
Lines gathered all day at the D.C. Pride Fest and Cleveland JazzFest, as guests eagerly awaited the chance to win their special souvenir. The gashapon machine not only entertained guests, it prompted genuine curiosity – 93% of participants expressed interest in visiting Pittsburgh after their experience.
