Teens are constantly on the lookout for new and different things to talk about within their social circles. Their choice of brand tells their peers a lot about them, so a brand that doesn’t do cool, engaging things is not top of mind for these consumers. Fanta saw a decrease in teens purchasing their drinks, as they hadn’t engaged teens directly in recent years. They needed to create a campaign that delivered cut-through and relevance to a teen audience.
Fanta wanted to do this by building relevance via a ‘play’ message in teens’ lives at times when they needed it most. It would be fun, interesting and social, and make the target market more positive about the brand. The strategy was to take the boring and serious moments in teens’ lives and make them more fun, by providing the tools for interaction and participation in playful brand experiences.
Research shows that the average age for a first phone is now 13, smartphones account for 46% of all phones in Australia and 57% of all new handsets sold, and Apple has made the smartphone the must have accessory for every image conscious teen. From this Fanta decided to use mobile as the platform, creating a gaming campaign which integrated Facebook and outdoor activity, inviting teens to play. Three, custom-built games were developed to engage teens, each designed specifically for mobile, using both touchscreen and tilt sensors. Weekly prizes and a real time leaderboard were built-in to drive repeat participation. User’s interactions were synced to Facebook, where scores were published on their Facebook wall allowing the campaign to be spread within their networks. Users could also track their progress on the leaderboard in the Fanta Facebook app.
Teens could boost their score using the Fanta app to interact with outdoor media, these were situated in the places teens are hanging out and seeking entertainment. Using location based information within the app, users were able to find outdoor panels located around Australia, and via their smartphones camera could “catch the crew”. The crew member magically jumps into the user’s phone via augmented reality, and provides a “power-up” in their gaming experience.
In addition, getting the highest score in real-world locations, enabled users to become rulers of their Fanta ‘zone’ and score bonus points. The campaign linked outdoor media with mobile gaming via augmented reality, to ensure Fanta maximised the value and impact of their media.
Results
+30,000 people downloaded the mobile application, resulting in over 80,000 visits, at 3 minutes and 8 seconds per visit, with an average of three visits per user; this meant each user spent 11 minutes on average playing.
65% of visitors returned to play again, the +30,000 users collectively spent over 7.4 months continuously interacting with the mobile games.
Volume growth of +12.3% over the campaign period.