News: PepsiCo's Doritos Used to Push for Return to Live Concerts with Augmented Reality Experience

With fears over the COVID-19 pandemic subsiding, live concerts are returning. And Doritos wants to send music fans to a few of them via an augmented reality promotion.

Dubbed "Mark Your Play," the campaign is centered on scannable posters, denoted by a Doritos chip displayed as a play button, found in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Brighton, Cardiff, and Southampton in the UK.

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Scanning the QR code opens the Doritos Make Your Play website. The AR experience begins with participants anchoring the virtual tortilla chip in the user's physical surroundings via their smartphone camera. Doing so opens a virtual portal filled with 3D and music content.

After viewing the experience, users can then enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets. The snack brand will give out 250 pairs of tickets per day to the Strawberries and Creem Festival, which will feature artists like Koffee, Burna Boy, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and Bugzy Malone (via live events producer DICE) to contest participants. Discounted tickets for the festival will also be available through the promotion.

"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," said Clafoutie Sintive, marketing director for snacks in the UK at PepsiCo, in a statement. "We are delighted to have created a campaign that encourages live music fans to enter competitions via our Make Your Play activation using augmented reality technology, enabling the music starved fans to hit play on life again."

Immersive producer Poplar Studio built the AR campaign for PepsiCo using 8th Wall's web-based AR platform. 8th Wall has enjoyed particular success with food and beverage brands, primarily with activations that involve scanning packaging and delivering AR content via the web, including MillerCoors, Pizza Hut, and 19 Crimes.

It's particularly fitting that AR, a technology that has helped brands stay connected to consumers during the pandemic, would have a role in a promotion centered on bringing people back to normal events.

"Over the pandemic, brands had to compete in a very crowded digital market and lacked the tools and technology to showcase their brand," said David Ripert, the CEO and co-founder of Poplar Studio. "Many have utilized technologies such as AR to create unique, interactive and engaging experiences for customers at home, either through campaigns, social media or on their website. We are thrilled to be working with Doritos, taking their campaign to the next level and bringing their ads to life to help reconnect fans to live music and assist driving the events industry forward."

8th Wall has held its own with Snapchat and Facebook in vying to provide platforms for AR advertising campaigns. Outside of packaging-based promotions, 8th Wall has supplied AR tech for Sony Pictures, Toyota, BMW, and Netflix, among others.