Israeli water brand Neviot recently added a range of "super-waters" with added vitamins and minerals to its existing product range. To promote the new line, a campaign was required that drew attention to the health benefits of the enriched water, called Neviot Plus, and positioned the brand as a sports and fitness drink.
Brands have used computer games as marketing vehicles since the early days of the medium, but advances in augmented reality (AR) technology mean that brands can now make their physical product a key element for game play. In this case, Neviot devised an AR based tennis game, which used bottles of Neviot Plus as the "rackets".
The technology has been created by Israeli technology firm CamSpace. Visitors to the Neviot website download a program to their computers which activates their webcam. The camera reads a code on the Neviot Plus bottles, and players can control their on-screen rackets accordingly, in a style similar to the Nintendo Wii.
In addition to the online version, Neviot has also taken the concept to the public, by creating a mobile gaming station that travels around shopping malls and popular town centre locations.
AR branded gaming was recently used by Nestlé, where the back of a cereal packet turned into a gaming environment when viewed through a webcam. Adidas also recently unveiled a range of sneakers that contained codes which gained entry into an exclusive AR world in which the shoes became the game controllers.