Doritos announced in early July it has launched its ‘Make Your Play’ augmented reality (AR) platform built by Poplar Studios, a London-based AR and 3D content firm that designs campaigns for brands.
The new campaign will feature the famous triangle-shaped snacks as a play button, allowing music fans the chance to win free tickets for numerous events and festivals.
Leading WebAR designers 8th Wall contributed to the AR campaign, which is set for display on posters across London, Birmingham, Leeds, Brighton, Cardiff, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, and other cities.
Fans can scan QR codes on the posters to access the AR experience, with the Dorito chip becoming an audio portal with music and AR-enhanced objects.
Each play button will unlock a chance to win one of 250 day tickets for the Strawberries & Cream Festival with artists such as PARTYNEXTDOOR, Burna Boy and Bugzy Malone, among others.
Clafoutie Sintive, Marketing Director Snacks UK at PepsiCo, said:
“It’s been a particularly difficult time for the music industry, which is why we wanted to create meaningful partnerships with innovative leaders in the music space who reflect our goals and values and use innovative technology to engage fans who have been at home over the past year”
Sintive added PepsiCo was delighted to feature a campaign encouraging fans to join the competitions with AR technologies, allowing “music starved fans to hit play on life again.”
David Ripert, CEO and co-founder at Poplar Studio, said:
“Over the pandemic, brands had to compete in a very crowded digital market and lacked the tools and technology to showcase their brand. Many have utilised technologies such as AR to create unique, interactive and engaging experiences for customers at home, either through campaigns, social media or on their website.
Music Moves to Virtual Mediums
The news comes after numerous festivals and performances were cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, driving many AR firms to develop new digital experiences for consumers.
The Splendour XR Festival transformed the Splendour in the Grass event into a major virtual concert, allowing fans with PCs, mobiles, or VR headsets to attend the immersive experience.
Attendees can chat with others, explore the virtual environment, and buy virtual merchandise (verch). Artists headlining the event include The Killers, Grimes, Chvrches, and others.
Marketing and AR firms have also begun exploring ways to build emerging technologies to promote events, product launches, and other advertising platforms.
XR Today spoke with Mr Ripert in early June on the processes Poplar Studio created to assess and match brands with content creators via the company’s online work platform.
According to him, Poplar allowed content creators to upload previous work examples to a portfolio for review by major AR firms, leading to collaboration on upcoming projects.
Heavyweights in the AR and music industry, Snap and Universal Music Group (UMG), struck a major partnership to promote artists on the Snapchat’s Sounds and AR Lenses tools.
The collaboration aims to boost Snapchat’s presence in the music industry and further integrate the AR platform among the world’s top record labels as well as artists and creatives.
