Inside LIving on the Edge episode 21, Jason and Dan profile the use of immersive experiences at Superbowl LVI. From NFL’s partnership with Snapchat, Kia’s Robodog AR app, Coinbase QR code and the LA’s Coliseum tribute, augmented reality and contactless retail lead marketing strategies towards fan and consumer experience.Links:NFL opens Snapchat playbook for Super Bowl Sunday — NFL and Snapchat are looking to boost engagement during an event that is not only the biggest...
Inside LIving on the Edge episode 21, Jason and Dan profile the use of immersive experiences at Superbowl LVI. From NFL’s partnership with Snapchat, Kia’s Robodog AR app, Coinbase QR code and the LA’s Coliseum tribute, augmented reality and contactless retail lead marketing strategies towards fan and consumer experience.
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- NFL opens Snapchat playbook for Super Bowl Sunday — NFL and Snapchat are looking to boost engagement during an event that is not only the biggest TV show of the year but also one that is increasingly tied to mobile devices. When it comes to sports, 87% of Snapchat users favor the photo messaging app over other apps, per Snap data shared with Marketing Dive, making it a key channel as the NFL and brands seek to reach second-screening consumers during the big game.
The NFL's activations touch every part of the Snapchat experience, with shows on Discover, Cameo stickers on a Super Bowl-themed Cameo story and top plays on Spotlight, the app's platform for user-generated content. The league is using Snap's technology to boost its own mobile offering, unlocking Snapchat AR experiences in the NFL One Pass app that allow users to see a virtual Lombardi Trophy, wear a team jersey or be featured in a Hollywood-themed Super Bowl movie poster.
U.S. Snapchat users played with Sponsored AR Lenses over 200 million times during last year's championship game, per statistics shared by Snap, an insight that could be driving brand activations this year powered by connected Lenses, Camera Kit integrations, Marker tech, machine learning and more.
Verizon partnered with Snapchat for a 5G Connected Lens that lets game attendees join an AR experience where they team up and battle other groups to take control of a giant virtual airship hovering above the field. To promote its Flamin' Hot Doritos and Cheetos products — which will come together in a gameday ad — Frito-Lay has sponsored the first-of-its-kind Snackable Screens lens that allows users to point their camera at Doritos or Cheetos snacks to reveal the dance video for ad star Megan Thee Stallion's new song "Flamin' Hottie." The video will only be available via the lens on Feb. 13 before heading to the brands' YouTube pages on Feb. 14.
- 'They will be blown away': NFL's next step in 'future-proofing' audience begins with Super Bowl ad — “The danger of complacency is real,” Tim Ellis, the NFL’s chief marketing officer since August 2018, told USA TODAY Sports. “Since the day I stepped into the NFL, I have been ringing the bell of urgency. We cannot afford to be complacent. We have to grow our core audiences - younger fans, female fans and Latino fans. With a sense of urgency, we have to focus on that."
Note: Prior to being the EVP of Marketing at the NFL, Tim Ellis was the EVP of Marketing for Activision.
- Super Bowl LVI pays tribute to big game’s past with AR — To pay tribute to the city’s status as the first city to host a Super Bowl (as in Super Bowl I) in 1967, a large “curtain” that appeared to be suspended from a circular track suspended from the roof of SoFi Stadium, was digitally inserted.
The curtain was “printed” with photography of the interior of the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the host of both the 1967 and 1973 Super Bowls.
The curtain then opened to reveal a 3D recreation of the historic columned peristyle of the Coliseum, complete with a digitally recreated flame shooting out from the torch in the center.
The 3D model also included two virtual video boards on either side of the flame as well as a recreation of the 1967 era scoreboard.
- Kia Launches ‘Dogmented Reality’ App Ahead Of Super Bowl — When you launch the AR experience, an adorable robotic dog with a serious case of puppy dog eyes comes to life in your personal space. Like a real pet, this robotic pooch comes with its fair share of responsibilities. You’ll need to spend time with your mechanical best friend—giving it belly rubs, scratching between its ears, and playing catch—in order to keep them healthy and happy. Think of Robo Dog as an AR version of the popular Tamagatchi Pets.
Because Robo Dog is powered through 8th Wall as an AR web experience, there’s no need to download an app. You simply open up the camera on your smartphone and point it towards a unique Kia Robo Dogmented Reality QR code to launch Robo Dog, much like how you would scan a QR code located on the table of a restaurant to open a menu on your phone.
- Coinbase’s bouncing QR code Super Bowl ad was so popular it crashed the app — The full 60-second ad almost entirely consisted of a colorful bouncing QR code, reminiscent of the iconic bouncing DVD logo meme. When scanned, the code brought viewers to Coinbase’s promotional website, offering a limited time promotion of $15 worth of free Bitcoin to new sign ups, along with a $3 million giveaway that customers can enter.
The offer is a limited time one, with new customers having until February 15th to get the $15 promotion — something that may be an issue, as Coinbase’s app is currently down, presumably due to the massive influx of traffic from the clever ad.
- 5G Changed the Super Bowl Experience. The Future of Retail Could Be Next — Spectators at the Super Bowl were also able to compete against one another in an augmented reality game. During pauses in on-field action, they received push notifications inviting them to participate in a game called Ultra Toss. Fans could point their phone at the field and try to toss footballs into a virtual pickup truck that appeared on the field. The mobile game debuted last year, but the prevalence of 5G allowed the NFL to roll out new features within the app in time for the Super Bowl, including a moving target and an AR overlay that tracks the stats of each section in the stadium.
Erwin adds that other in-stadium features, such as sports gambling and mobile food ordering, will also benefit from better, more reliable service. And the game experience is also changing for fans watching from their couches. During the Super Bowl, viewers both in the arena and at home were able to watch the halftime show from a variety of angles, all streamed in 4K
- Akamai To Acquire Linode to Provide Businesses with a Developer-friendly and Massively-distributed Platform to Build, Run and Secure Applications — “The opportunity to combine Linode’s developer-friendly cloud computing capabilities with Akamai’s market-leading edge platform and security services is transformational for Akamai,” said Dr. Tom Leighton, chief executive officer and co-founder, Akamai Technologies. “Akamai has been a pioneer in the edge computing business for over 20 years, and today we are excited to begin a new chapter in our evolution by creating a unique cloud platform to build, run and secure applications from the cloud to the edge. This is a big win for developers who will now be able to build applications on a platform that delivers unprecedented scale, reach, performance, reliability and security.”
- Juniper Networks Collaborates with Vodafone and Parallel Wireless on Groundbreaking Open RAN Use Case Trial — Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced that it is working with Vodafone and Parallel Wireless, a pioneer in Open RAN solutions, conducting a multivendor RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) trial for tenant-aware admission control use cases. The trial, initially running in Vodafone’s test labs in Turkey and with plans to move into its test infrastructure, supports O-RAN interfaces and addresses the key business challenges faced by mobile operators around personalized user experience, viable revenue generation and reduction in both CAPEX and OPEX for 4G and 5G services.
The trial is based on an open, software-driven architecture that leverages virtualization to deliver more programmable, automated granular-by-user traffic management. The initial focus is on delivering tenant-aware admission control capability, enabling operators to personalize services and provide superior user experiences. Real-time tracking and enforcement of radio resources across the RAN enables mission-critical users – for example, hospitals and schools – to receive prioritized mobile data services delivery. This capability is enabled by Juniper’s rApp/xApp cloud-based software tools that manage network functions in near real-time, along with Parallel Wireless cloud-native Open RAN functions.
The trial’s design philosophy is focused on demonstrating the potential of enabling open, agile resource management and mobile data delivery in any software-driven RAN environment. This approach enables services and applications to be managed, optimized and mitigated automatically by the RAN, built on real-time data insights from its own performance.
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