To overview
Introduction
For the 2025 Advent season, Rituals was looking for a digital experience that connects to its well-known advent calendar and Christmas campaign. An experience that strengthens storytelling, keeps customers engaged for longer, and creates room for brand experience and lead growth.
We developed the digital version of the Advent Diorama. The experience allowed users to literally step inside the world of the Advent Diorama and become familiar with Rituals products in the lead-up to the holiday season.
The challenge
How do you translate the essence of a physical advent calendar into a digital experience that keeps users engaged during a busy December period?Rituals was looking for a digital experience that fits the Advent theme, brings products to attention, and helps people find the right gift.
Concept
We developed a 3D digital experience that allows users to literally step into the world of the Advent Diorama.In the Build Your Own experience, users enter a snowy, interactive winter world filled with objects inspired by the Advent Diorama. By tapping, placing, and decorating, they build their own village. As the village takes shape, users gradually discover products from the Rituals collection.
Because finding the right gift can be challenging in December, we also created the Rituals Gift Finder. In this interactive flow, users answer a small number of focused questions about the person they are buying for. Based on those answers, gift ideas are presented that match the recipient.
Finally, we developed an Augmented Reality experience that allows users to explore the Advent digitally before bringing it into their home. Users place a digital version of the Advent in their own space and interact with it just like the real product. By walking around it and opening the digital doors, they discover which Rituals products are inside and get a clear sense of how the Advent looks in their own environment.
Execution
The digital Advent Diorama was developed as a web-based 3D experience, optimised for mobile and desktop. All components were designed and built as one cohesive digital experience.The activation was rolled out through Rituals’ owned channels, including CRM, social media and paid campaigns. In-store, QR access and coupon redemption created a direct connection between the digital experience and physical retail. All elements connected seamlessly to the broader Christmas campaign, ensuring the digital Advent Diorama remained visible throughout the entire Advent period.
Results
The digital Advent Diorama created multiple brand touchpoints throughout the Advent season. By distributing the experience across December, Rituals stayed visible and relevant at a stage of the customer journey where inspiration, orientation and gifting decisions come together.
The combination of discovering, choosing and exploring created a natural rhythm aligned with Advent. Gamification played a supporting role by activating users and turning passive orientation into active interaction. This resulted in repeat visits and longer engagement within an owned digital environment.The Gift Finder provided insight into gifting-related search behaviour and preferences. As a result, the experience functioned not only as an inspiration tool for users, but also as a way to better understand how different audiences make gifting decisions during the holiday season.
In this way, the digital Advent Diorama supported visibility, engagement and loyalty in the mid-funnel — where initial interest can grow into a lasting brand relationship.
