Trade Expo Indonesia 2025:
Elevating Cultural Heritage Through AR
Gentong Ice Cream aims to transform its traditional FMCG products into interactive, globally competitive AR experiences at Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) 2025, capturing international buyers and showcasing Indonesia’s culinary heritage.
HOVARLAY turned Gentong Ice Cream products into interactive AR experiences, letting visitors scan packaging to unlock animations of regional flavours and cultural icons, amplifying brand storytelling and positioning Gentong to attract international buyers.
Sector
- FMCG
Service
- Interactive Event Engagement
- Data-Driven Insights
- Export-ready Products
The Experience
Bringing Indonesian Ice Cream to Life with AR
Interactive Ice Cream Lids: Scanning each lid launched AR animations of flavours, street vendors, markets, and cultural icons like Ondel-Ondel.
Storytelling Vending Machine: Visitors unlocked 3D scenes of local fruit sourcing and artisanal ice cream production.
Ministerial Visit: Minister Budi Santoso and Deputy Minister Dyah Roro visited the booth, engaging with AR activations and recognising Gentong’s innovation.
Industry Engagement & Collaboration: AR experiences enabled connections with startups, investors, and international buyers, fostering partnerships and export opportunities.
The Digital Transformation Journey
Challenge
Showcasing Local FMCG Innovation to a Global Audience
Gentong Ice Cream aimed to prove a local brand could rival global innovators at TEI 2025, facing key challenges: engaging a deal-focused B2B audience, presenting authentic cultural storytelling, ensuring seamless, app-free AR experiences, and capturing measurable engagement data to generate actionable insights.
Strategy
Turning Cultural Storytelling into Measurable AR Experiences
To address Gentong Ice Cream’s challenges at TEI 2025, HOVARLAY deployed its app-free WebAR platform, transforming ice cream cups and vending machines into 11 interactive, culturally rich AR experiences using the no-code HOVARLAY Creator. Visitors could instantly unlock animations of flavours, ingredient origins, and cultural icons via HOVARLAY Lens, creating seamless, memorable connections with both local and international audiences.
All interactions were tracked through HOVARLAY Insights, providing real-time data on scans, engagement, and duration. This allowed Gentong to measure impact, optimise activations, and turn immersive storytelling into actionable business insights, bridging creativity with measurable results.
Outcome
Interactive AR Experiences Driving Engagement and Global Opportunities
Standout Booth: HOVARLAY turned Gentong’s booth into an interactive destination, creating memorable connections in a B2B setting.
Cultural Storytelling: Ice cream lids came alive with animations of regional flavours, street vendors, markets, and icons like Ondel-ondel and Monas.
Seamless Technology: App-free WebAR via QR codes allowed instant, inclusive access for all visitors.
Actionable Insights: Real-time metrics tracked engagement, revealing potential export opportunities and early trade discussions with international buyers.
The Impact
Empowering Indonesian FMCG with AR, Culture, and Global Reach
- Driving FMCG Innovation: The Gentong × HOVARLAY activation showed that Indonesian FMCG brands can compete globally through AR and cultural storytelling.
- Data-Driven Strategies: Real-time engagement analytics enabled smarter campaigns, better ROI, and support for domestic and international growth.
- Heritage Meets Technology: AR fused local culture with immersive experiences, strengthening brand narratives and showcasing Indonesia’s culinary heritage.
- Opening Doors for Collaboration and Growth: AR activations sparked discussions with international buyers and partners, opening doors for exports and strategic partnerships.
Result
Shaping the Next Era of Export-Ready FMCG Through AR and Cultural Storytelling
The HOVARLAY × Gentong Ice Cream collaboration illustrates a new paradigm in FMCG marketing:
- Innovate without technical barriers: Brands, MSMEs, and creatives can produce AR experiences with no coding required.
- Strengthen storytelling and engagement: Transform packaging and product displays into dynamic narratives.
- Leverage actionable insights: Real-time analytics enable optimisation and data-driven marketing decisions.
- Expand collaboration opportunities: Foster partnerships across brands, startups, educational institutions, and creative communities. This strengthened the ecosystem and opened new regional and international market opportunities.
When heritage meets innovation, AR elevates FMCG beyond products into interactive cultural experiences. Gentong Ice Cream showed that ice cream is no longer just a treat. It’s a story you can see, play with, and share.
