An innovative Augmented Reality experience that gave “Jaffanatics” a chance to win £500 to live out their dreams.
‘If a cake can be a biscuit, then you can be anything’, that’s McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes’ message to their “Jaffanatics”, and the folk at Because 100% agree. Like the playful snack brand, we too like to challenge conventions and we’re quite partial to a Jaffa Cake of course, so we were only too happy to jump onboard and help them with their latest campaign.
McVities Jaffa Cakes were set to launch their first TV ad since 2006. Their aim? To inspire consumers to ‘Be What You Want to Be’. What they needed our help with, was bringing this message to life digitally.
Inspired by the new brand platform, we created an innovative at-home Augmented Reality (AR) experience using Virtual Atoms (VA’s) that rewarded consumers in an engaging new way and drove them directly to trial and purchase. You can read more about this cutting-edge digital technology here.
Here’s how it worked: after signing up and watching the Jaffa Cake TV ad, consumers were prompted to drop a pin to indicate their location. They were then able to use their phone camera to view and collect engaging digital tokens right in their homes. The tokens referenced cult elements from the TV ad (a crown, a roller-skate and of course a Jaffa Cake) each unlocking a little surprise, like a £500 cash prize aimed at helping consumers live out their own dreams, packs of Jaffa Cakes or a face filter – yes, a wearable brand token! In a market-first we integrated the redemption across four of the top grocer multiples in the UK (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose), meaning our digital tokens could be exchanged for free packs of Jaffa Cakes at over 6.5k stores across the UK.
The AR gameplay connected digital and real-world experiences, leading consumers through an entertaining virtual journey. Not only did this amplify the brand platform on digital channels and bring the TV advert to life, but it also allowed McVitie’s to collect valuable consumer data.
To support the campaign, the biscuit brand ran paid ads on TikTok to drive awareness with their core audience, and content on Jaffa Cakes’ owned social channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They also collaborated with talented TikTok creators and influencers, varying from artists to dancers who created content centred around embodying the ‘Be What You Want To Be’ messaging.
Sarah Babb, Senior Brand Manager, McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes had this to say, “I reached out to the team at Because to help bring to life a digital activation that would engage consumers and help connect our ATL with an experience linked to purchase and trial. It was a first for us and a chance to test and learn some new technology and gain insight into how we can connect with our consumers in new ways. We were really keen to see the possibilities that Virtual Atoms could bring to our campaign and we’re excited to find new ways to integrate the technology into our activity going forwards.” As are we here at Because!
We love a little defiance of categorisation here at Because, we’re all about encouraging people to ‘Be What They Want To be’ and we’re obsessed with Immersive Creative Tech, so this campaign was our slice of cake. We were able to, once again, show what the pioneering Virtual Media platform can do, and the campaign was such a success that we’re already looking at another Virtual Atom project with the amazing McVities’ team. So, if you didn’t get a chance to grab a Jaffa surprise this time around, keep your eyes peeled for more morish chances to win.