BodyArmor aimed to activate its limited-time offering (LTO) bottles through an engaging digital experience across four key properties: the MLB, NFL, NASCAR, and Dude Perfect (YouTubers). The goal was to create gamified, interactive experiences that could be accessed via a QR code on each bottle, with each experience tailored to the specific property. Key personas featured in the campaigns included Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Joe Burrow, and Bryce Young for the NFL, Ronald Acuña Jr. for the MLB, Bryce Young for NASCAR, and the full Dude Perfect squad.

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The project presented several challenges. The experiences needed to be distinct for each property, gamified, and delivered within a mobile augmented reality (AR) environment, while still feeling cohesive under the BodyArmor brand. Creating custom assets that balanced realism with optimized performance for AR was essential to ensure smooth and engaging gameplay. Given the variety of mobile devices, ensuring fast load times for the AR experiences was a top priority. The games had to be simple yet compelling enough to capture the interest of a global audience, while also enabling the collection of audience metrics for leaderboards and future retargeting strategies. Lastly, accessibility was a crucial consideration, as the experience needed to function seamlessly across different smartphone browsers.

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To tackle these challenges, the team developed four AR experiences using 8th Wall, a web-based platform that ensured universal compatibility across smartphones. Custom 3D models were built from the ground up, balancing detail and performance to create optimized assets for each property. The process included prototyping and producing animatics for client review prior to game engine development, aligning with BodyArmor’s expectations and ensuring ease of use.

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Each experience featured a leaderboard system that tracked user activity and allowed participants to enter giveaways. These leaderboards were designed to be self-sustaining for one year, supporting continuous engagement and data collection for ongoing marketing efforts. The QR code-activated experiences created a direct link between the physical product and the digital environment, seamlessly integrating the brand’s sports partnerships into the campaign.

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Since launch, the interactive experiences have been accessed over 300,000 times, accumulating more than 2,500 hours of gameplay each week. The AR-driven campaign effectively captured audience attention, provided valuable user engagement metrics, and set a new benchmark for gamifying product activations in the sports and entertainment industry.

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