Hamleys is one of my favourite stores in London, so when I read they were relaunching their site, the news got my attention, even if I'm no longer a kid since a "couple of years"... Their online marketing plan focuses on a mini-site that grabs kids and mums' attention with an advergame and a virtual tour of the e-commerce store. The advergame, called The Magic Toy Factory, is a sort of brick/tetris replica... it's very simple to play (it's for kids! ;-) but also quite addictive...

On the other side, the virtual tour unfortunately is not very rich nor interactive. You can easily tell it has been built only with the idea of generating sales, without actually thinking that presenting the product with a click & buy isn't enough if the whole experience doesn't manage to create a little bit of engagement in the users...

In the end, I will keep going to the real store...