The expansion of Mediaworks' web and app development department is leading to continued success for the digital marketing agency. Here, they tell us more about their latest app release for The Royal Mint
This month, Mediaworks celebrated the launch of one of our most exciting projects to date. We were recently chosen to design and develop an app for The Royal Mint to support the rollout of their new Quintessentially British 10p coins and we’re pleased to say the app is now live and available to download.
The ambitious Great British Coin Hunt app was created to encourage people to collect the new 10p coins, which feature an A-Z of quintessentially British items, locations and personas, from Stonehenge to James Bond. As such, it needed to connect with a diverse range of audiences, from the general public to serious coin collectors. To do so, we used our creative approach to implement a range of functionality in the app.
One of the core aims of the app is to provide a tracking system that can be used to log the coins that are found, essentially creating a digital record of a user’s progress. To ensure this was accurate and avoid any ‘fake’ coin logs, we used image recognition technology, which compared scanned coins against a catalogue of images. Through machine learning, this technology will get smarter as more coins are logged, meaning even disfigured or damaged coins will be recognised.
To support users in completing their coin collection, we incorporated map functionality to show where the coins have been found and released, as well as details of swap shop events.
Gamification elements were also included to help us broaden the appeal of the app. Users can view the rarity of the coins, as well as how many have been found and logged using the app. This visibility encouraged users to actively look for more of the coins. In recognition for coin unlocks, users can earn trophies and awards, which again adds to the gamification elements.
In addition, the app includes a ‘Create-a-Coin’ feature that allows users to use Great British Coin Hunt elements to design their own digital coin. These can then be saved in a digital wallet and shared socially.
The app recently launched to phenomenal success, with over 7,000 downloads within the first 24 hours of its release. Since then, the app has accumulated over 17,000 downloads, despite just one of the coins being released into circulation.
The Royal Mint project is the latest in Mediaworks’ award-winning portfolio of app development work. We continue to expand our talented design and development team and explore new technologies to support our clients’ digital ambitions.
The Great British Coin Hunt app can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store. For more information about Mediaworks, visit
www.mediaworks.co.uk