Gap Project Reindeer
Deeplocal created a GPS cellular tracking solution to monitor the movement of reindeer in a safe way. The movements were tracked for six straight days and triggered different sales in GAP stores each day. The movements were visualized on a website. The reindeer pasture had no electricity or internet so we relied entirely on the available cellular network.
We consulted with wildlife tracking experts and found existing tracking solutions did not meet our needs due to a combination of infrequent updates, low battery life, and an inability to receive the points in real-time. Without an off-the-shelf solution, we designed and built custom collars to house cellular GPS devices and extended battery packs. The collars needed be resilient enough to handle continuous use by the reindeer in the harsh Minnesota winter while remaining light enough to have no impact on the animals. The collars also needed to be easily accessible for quick battery changes when required.
A live feed was provided by a custom time-lapse smartphone application we developed to continuously upload the photos to a central server. We used a total of four smartphones placed around the pasture in conjunction with a manual camera and custom wilderness camera. Deeplocal engineers stayed on-location throughout the event to offer support and to monitor the reindeer.
The campaign generated significant internet buzz with appearances on NotCot, SFEgotist, MSNBC, and other major media outlets. Additionally, the campaign was picked up by hundreds of blogs and retail coupon-dedicated websites.