Introduction to a New Gaming Experience
October 25, 2022, marked the start of an exciting partnership between OMD, rebel, and Unbound, aiming to revolutionize the best way basketball fans interact with their favorite sport. This progressive collaboration has led to the creation of a gamified social augmented reality (AR) experience, set to launch throughout the 2023 NBL season. The experience utilizes social AR filters built on the Meta platform, Spark AR, allowing fans to return together on a virtual basketball court.
The Concept Behind the Innovation
The idea was born out of OMD’s specialist partnerships, content, and social division, OMD Create, which was challenged by rebel to extend awareness of their performance footwear range in a singular and charming way. Rebel’s ambition is to be recognized as "the house of basketball," and this partnership is a major step towards achieving that goal. The AR filter provides an immersive basketball court environment where users can project their face onto a basketball player’s body. The twist? They must match facial expressions to timed on-screen prompts, adding a fun and difficult element to the sport.
How the Experience Works
Each user is presented with a singular gamified experience based on their footwear alternative, which determines the extent of difficulty and speed of the sport. Users can select from the newest of rebel’s signature basketball shoe ranges, including Nike Kyrie Infinity and Air Jordan XXXVI, to play in. This feature not only enhances the gaming experience but in addition showcases rebel’s performance footwear range in a fascinating and interactive manner.
Promotion and Partnerships
To make sure the experience reaches the center of the basketball community, OMD has collaborated with contextual partners ScreenSports and Sporting News. These partnerships enable the promotion of the filter to basketball fans through authentic and organic channels. Additionally, the experience is supported by media activity across popular social media platforms similar to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, further expanding its reach.
Insights from the Partners
Rosemary Martin, General Manager of eCommerce and Marketing at rebel, expressed excitement about connecting with customers through this progressive idea, particularly highlighting the competitive nature of the filter and game. Thomas Hutley, Managing Director of OMG Content, praised the AR filter as a display of OMD Create’s ambition to challenge convention and push the boundaries of innovation. Josh Parisi, Creative Lead at Unbound, discussed the potential of gamified filters in driving organic reach on social media, emphasizing the intuitive UX and clean UI of the rebel All-Stars game.
Conclusion
The partnership between OMD, rebel, and Unbound marks a major milestone in leveraging technology to reinforce fan engagement in sports. By combining social AR with gamification, they’ve created an experience that not only promotes rebel’s performance footwear range but in addition provides a singular and entertaining way for basketball fans to interact with their favorite sport. As the 2023 NBL season approaches, fans can look ahead to a revolutionary solution to experience basketball, courtesy of this progressive collaboration. With its addictive gameplay, immersive environment, and strategic partnerships, this AR experience is poised to be a slam dunk with basketball enthusiasts.
