HEMA: Designing Interactive AR Games for Netherlands’ Award-winning Marketing Team
Leave a comment
THE CHALLENGE
How do you turn real-time marketing into something people actually PLAY with?
Welcome to the world of HEMA marketing.
A brand famous in the Netherlands for its razor sharp timing, instantly recognizable humor and campaigns that constantly tap into internet culture and current events. Which also means: everything moves FAST.
And when your campaigns are built around trending moments, holidays and viral online behavior… there’s no such thing as “we’ll launch next month.” Sometimes ideas needed to become reality within weeks.
THE GOAL
HEMA was looking for digital experiences that felt playful, shareable and unmistakably ‘echt HEMA’. My role was creating AR filters and interactive social experiences that acted as extensions of their larger marketing campaigns across Instagram and TikTok.
Whether it was:
a chaotic Koningsdag AR game,
an ugly Christmas card generator
or an activation connected to one of HEMA’s iconic product launches…
the goal stayed the same: Create moments people engage with and perfectly fits HEMA’s ethos.
THE CONCEPT
One of the things I love most about working with HEMA is the creative trust. If I had an idea: I could pitch it. If something could become funnier, more viral or more interactive: we explored it.
Although HEMA’s marketing quality is top notch, the magic of HEMA is not perfection.
It’s relatability. Everything needs to feel funny, accessible, extremely Dutch, culturally recognizable & instantly understandable within seconds. Which sounds simple… until you realize how difficult “simple” actually is.
One of the most technically challenging projects we created together was a full Instagram AR game for Kingsday, inspired by the classic Dutch tradition of “koekhappen.” Except we gave it a very HEMA twist: tompouce happen.
Users could play the game together before heading into the city for Koningsdag celebrations, turning a social media filter into an actual shared experience.
Another campaign transformed forgotten Christmas cards into something hilarious:
an ugly Christmas card generator where users could create chaotic festive portraits complete with ugly sweaters and awkward holiday energy.’écht HEMA.’
THE VISUALS
Over the years, I created:
• Instagram AR filters
• TikTok effects
• interactive social media games
• digital campaign activations
• holiday marketing experiences
• QR-driven social activations
• immersive campaign extensions
THE RESULTS
Working with HEMA taught me how powerful internet culture becomes when a brand fully understands its audience. Because the strongest campaigns today don’t feel like advertising anymore. They feel like participation. And that’s exactly why HEMA’s marketing continues to stand out.
I’m incredibly proud to have contributed to multiple campaigns alongside one of the Netherlands’ most recognizable and award-winning creative marketing teams.
READY TO CREATE SOMETHING PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT TO SHARE?
Whether you’re building a viral campaign, social activation or immersive brand experience:
I can help your brand turn internet culture into impossible-to-ignore experiences.
