A visual live marketing platform for the 21st century
For retail and live events, Happybooth develops a visual marketing platform that facilitates lead generation, increases brand engagement and amplifies social media reach.
In all experience marketing settings – be it high-end retail, temporary pop-up stores or corporate events – the Happybooth platform enables advertisers to collect, monitor, brand, analyze and distribute visual content in real-time.
Successful customer development & initial traction
In order to generate traction and validate its business model’s underlying customer hypotheses, the company launched its first pilot product in May 2016: a digital-first, conveyable version of the classic photo booth. Since then, the Happybooth was rented on 200+ paid events, letting users take branded “selfies”, receive printed giveaways, and share the images on social media.
Due to a streamlined user experience and its rapid scalability, the photo booth was used by customers all over the world: Microsoft shipped a unit to Toronto (Canada), Harley Davidson to Barcelona (Spain) and Montblanc to Geneva (Switzerland). Event hosts in Germany included Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Post and American Express. The fashion brand Diesel put three units in their flagship-stores in Berlin, Munich and Dusseldorf during the Christmas high-season to engage their customers, collect data and increase social media visibility.
Streamlined customer journey & product roadmap
Before the start of their rental, customers gain access to the Happybooth customer portal where they can enter their basic information (such as delivery & billing address), control branding options and later monitor incoming pictures or analyze key performance indicators. On the working day before the event, the photo booth(s) arrive(s) at the customer’s location by parcel delivery. On the day after the rental period, all hardware devices are picked up again by an external logistic partner, allowing for cost efficiency and maximal scalability.
Development speed of the Happybooth platform has improved dramatically since the team turned full-time in October 2016 and moved their office from southwest Germany to Berlin. In December 2016, the Happybooth platform has been extended by roaming photography services and social printers that brand and print out event pictures directly from Instagram, Twitter or Whatsapp in real-time. On the software side, a more sophisticated admin dashboard with in-depth monitoring and reporting functionality is currently in a closed beta phase and will be launched in spring 2017. The company plans to scale the organization internationally from autumn this year, once operational processes are under control and documented.
A hungry team with entrepreneurial track record
Happybooth was co-founded by fellow business students Marius Hepp (BSc., University of Mannheim), Ferdinand Natterer, Benjamin Harr and Sinan Saglam. Before entering the live marketing industry, the team has successfully started their first venture “Lichtathleten” at the age of 18. They started the curated photography agency during high school and grew the company to six-digit net revenues with 300+ customers before exiting it to a professional photographer in 2015. Proceeds from their previous venture as well as the successful launch phase, allowed the four co-founders to grow Happybooth without external financing so far.