PHILIPS TÜRKİYE

Philips Marathon Ultimate Launch

We turned a vacuum cleaner launch into a health activation by making invisible dust visible.

PHILIPS TÜRKİYE · NOVEMBER 2018

Philips Marathon Ultimate Launch - PHILIPS TÜRKİYE - Project Video

01 — Brief

Brief

In autumn 2018, Philips Türkiye was launching its new flagship vacuum cleaner — the Marathon Ultimate A+. The white-goods category was heading into a busy year, retail floors were crowded, and Philips asked us for three clear things: strong launch visibility, a concrete and compelling telling of the product's technical features and direct sales conversion.

The brief refused the usual in-store promo, hostess handouts and brochure stand. Philips wanted people to feel why the product was different in its category — experience, not selling.

From concept to delivery — physical build, mechatronic production, VR film and simulator hardware, digital campaign, on-site operation — all of it was carried out by Harikalar.

“The biggest problem in the vacuum category is that people never see the dust. They don't take it seriously because they don't feel it.”

02 — Insight

Insight

The deepest tension in the vacuum cleaner category is this: people clean every single day, yet they never see the dust. The floor they think is clean isn't. "Powerful suction" in advertising is therefore an abstract promise — something you're asked to take on faith.

The real weak spot in the category is that consumers don't take the threat in their home seriously because they can't see it. They skip the technical layer entirely and look at the price. The A+ energy class, the high suction power, the advanced filter system on the Marathon Ultimate — all of it is invisible. Our job was to make the invisible dramatically visible, understandable and physically felt.

We took it one step further and moved the frame out of the cleaning category and into the health category. Because invisible dust is, in truth, a hygiene and respiratory health issue. "It cleans well" is cold; "Don't let dust get on your health" is personal.

03 — The Idea

The Idea

Making the invisible visible needed more than one channel. People don't believe technical specs by reading them, don't bond with a brand by watching a film, and don't buy because of a slogan. So we turned the activation into a three-layered touch-watch-feel experience — and pulled it all under a single core idea: #DontLetDustGetOnYourHealth.

The first layer was the Interactive Wall: a mechatronic construction built on real Marathon Ultimate units. Our engineering team opened, modified and rebuilt actual vacuums with sensors and actuators inside. When visitors touched the wall, each technical feature came to life as its own physical demo — suction power, filter system, A+ energy efficiency. No spec sheet to read; you understood it with your fingertips.

The second layer was The Dust's Journey — A VR Film: we designed and produced this film from scratch ourselves. We told the first-person story of dust starting at the carpet, being pulled into the Marathon Ultimate, travelling through its body, passing through filter layers, getting caught in the airflow. We deliberately built this not as a sterile technical animation but as a Harikalar wonderland — every stage inside the product turned into a colourful, moving, playful universe.

The third layer was the VR Simulator: instead of letting people watch the film passively, we wanted them to feel they were inside it. Our custom-built motion simulator turned the film into a roller-coaster ride. Once visitors put on the VR headset, the chair movement and the film were synchronised — they felt being a speck of dust inside a Marathon Ultimate, falling down the suction channel and passing through the filter, in their own bodies.

The fourth layer was Hyperlocal Digital: meter-precision ad delivery (HyperLocal Ads) targeting users around the malls, then a Turkey-wide laser targeting layer. The #DontLetDustGetOnYourHealth hashtag bound the physical experience and the digital story into a single frame.

Mechatronic Interactive Wall

Physical demos built on real Marathon Ultimate units. Our engineers opened the vacuums, modified them with sensors and actuators, so each technical feature came alive with a single touch.

The Dust's Journey Film

A first-person VR film of the dust's journey through the vacuum's body. Not a sterile technical animation but a custom-built Harikalar wonderland that turned the inside of the product into a colourful, playful universe.

Roller-Coaster VR Simulator

A custom-built motion simulator that lifted the film out of the screen and into the body. As a speck of dust, the visitor felt the fall down the suction channel and the rush through the filter in their own seat.

Hyperlocal + Hashtag

Meter-precision HyperLocal Ads around the malls and Turkey-wide laser targeting. The #DontLetDustGetOnYourHealth call bound the physical and digital layers into a single frame.

04 — Execution

Execution

The hardest part of the activation wasn't the visual impact — it was getting three independent layers to live inside the same frame and at the same emotional tempo. While the interactive wall was being engineered, the VR film was being designed and animated from scratch, the custom motion simulator was being mechanically built, and the hyperlocal media plan was being put together — all at the same time. Everything had to be ready for the first weekend of November 2018, then dismantled and transported from İstinye Park to Izmir Optimum.

Three Problems We Had to Solve

Turning a real product into a demo: converting actual Marathon Ultimate units into live, touch-responsive mechatronic stations — without compromising the physical integrity of the product
Making an abstract story physical: writing the VR film that tells the dust's journey from scratch, and synchronising it with a custom-built motion simulator that turned passive viewing into a roller-coaster ride
Not staying in one place: designing the whole installation as a modular system that could run for two separate weekends in two different cities — install, dismantle and transport timed to fit the malls' operating windows

Scope

Concept, big idea and channel architecture — building the #DontLetDustGetOnYourHealth umbrella
Industrial and electronic design of the mechatronic interactive wall, modification on real product units
Design, animation, sound design and rendering of "The Dust's Journey" VR film
Custom-built VR roller-coaster simulator — motion hardware, seat system, film synchronisation
Install, dismantle and logistics for İstinye Park (Istanbul) and Optimum (Izmir)
On-site visitor flow, product operations and technical support
HyperLocal Ads and Turkey-wide laser targeting media plan; social media execution of the hashtag campaign

Team

Project Lead & Experience Design: Atilla Baybara
Technology Development: Utku Olcar
Client Relations: Şaban Yılmaz
Operations: Yiğit Sarı
+ Industrial and mechatronic engineering team, 3D / VR film production team, on-site install and operations team

5.5M

Total Reach

%30

Engagement Rate

3×

In-Store Sales Lift

+5pt

Market Share Gain

05 — Results

Results

5.5 million total reach — through HyperLocal Ads and a Turkey-wide laser targeting campaign
30% engagement rate — well above the category average, the result of the hashtag and the physical experience feeding each other
3x in-store sales — in the Philips sections at İstinye Park and Optimum, compared to the weeks before the activation
35% sales lift across all channels — measured at the end of the campaign window for the Marathon Ultimate range
+5 percentage points of weekly market share — a concrete strengthening of Philips Türkiye's position in the vacuum category