Open innovation: Radio France local station France Bleu Drôme Ardèche innovates by geolocating its content with Karacal
Founded in late 2019 by Charlotte Durand, Hanna Feyler and Wassim Amri, Karacal is a French startup that offers a new form of augmented reality by using audio. Thanks to their software, users can now reconnect with the places and people around them
Karacal geolocates "sound bubbles" and gives users the opportunity to discover their region differently: when they are close to a key location, they receive a push notification. The alerts are associated with a podcast published on the Karacal application, available for iOS and Android smartphones.
What were the tests conducted with the Radio France local radio France Bleu Drôme Ardèche?
Within the framework of the testing with the local branch of the France Bleu radio network, Charlotte and Hanna published on Karacal the episodes of two programs the France Bleu Drôme Ardèche listeners were already familiar with: La Balade de Daphné and Circuits Courts. The map on the Karacal interface allowed users of the application to identify where the main tourist and heritage sites mentioned in Daphné Michelas’s program were, as well as the location of the Circuits Courts community’s local producers. Radio France’s Sandbox program allowed the startup to test its geolocation technology on the numerous contents of the catalogs of these two key programs of the 5th biggest branch of France Bleu.
What were the benefits of this collaboration?
This experiment helped the radio and the startup get closer to local and departmental actors by establishing partnerships with tourist offices, consular chambers and associations.
It also allowed the local station to see how its regional territory was represented on air, which later pushed new editorial choices based on the findings of the testing.
For Karacal, this innovation process allowed them to strengthen their catalog and increase their visibility on the market as a content aggregator by using France Bleu’s reputation. Charlotte Durand and Hanna Feyler will present the first results of the experiment at the SITEM International Exhibition of Museums, that will take place at the Carousel du Louvre from September 14 to 16, and at the Festival de l'Info Locale in Nantes on September 23 and 24.
Discover more innovative projects done by Radio France (website in French)
Visit the website of Karacal