Diving overview:
- Mars-branded Snickers is bringing an augmented reality (AR) Super Bowl experience to Apple Vision Pro, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. The activation was made in collaboration with The Mars Agency and technology content company Blippar.
- On Super Bowl day, February 11th, consumers who own an Apple Vision Pro will be able to access the experience to practice kicking field goals, learn from the Pittsburgh Steelers' misfortune fortune teller T.J. You can also visit Wat. The initiative ties in with Snickers' long-running Rookie Mistakes platform.
- The experience is also available on mobile devices, where users can share their beginner mistakes and embarrassing moments for a chance to win a home football viewing bundle. The effort shows how early some brands are betting on Apple's hot new headset.
Dive Insight:
Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset hasn't arrived yet, but brands are already strategizing how to join in on the hype. The highly anticipated Vision Pro headset became available for pre-order earlier this month and is expected to arrive on February 2nd. For Snickers, the combination of headset excitement and Super Bowl fan base could help increase engagement with “people hungry for immersive content.” to test drive new devices,” Keith Curtin, chief revenue officer at Blippar, said in a statement provided to his Marketing Dive.
The “Rookie Mistake” AR experience in Vision Pro will be available on February 11th, the day of the Super Bowl. The brand's experience allows consumers to practice kicking his goals on the field and listen to Watt, the “soothsayer of misfortune” delivering oracle-like messages from a crystal ball.
Despite the Vision Pro headset's $3,499 price tag, Apple reportedly sold between 160,000 and 180,000 units in the days after it became available for pre-order, making this an early success and encouraging other It could tempt marketers to strategize their brand experiences on this device. Still, VR headsets have historically struggled to remain popular, especially among younger consumers, with a 2023 Piper Sandler study finding that 29% of teens own a VR device. However, only 4% of headset owners reported using them daily.
Either way, Apple has a reputation for getting things right for connected devices. For example, the company's iOS platform is known for higher consumer engagement compared to Android, even though the latter has a much larger global footprint. For marketers, this could make it easier to bet on the tech giant's latest venture, which Apple CEO Tim Cook said is responsible for ushering in a “new era of spatial computing.” . Apart from Apple, Meta has been betting on his own VR headset for years, but it doesn't seem to be taking hold. The company's Reality Labs division had a third-quarter operating loss of $3.7 billion.
The Snickers AR experience has been available on mobile devices since last fall to consumers who scan a QR code or visit a designated microsite. Anyone who shares his rookie mistake online will receive a “Home His Gating” setup with a 75-inch TV, soundbar, $50 gift card to the official NFL store, and a buildable Coffee His table. Prizes will be awarded. It includes a refrigerator, speakers, LED lighting, a game console, and a 24-pack of Snickers. Consumers can enter the sweepstakes until February 11th, and a total of five winners will be selected.
The brand's latest collaboration with Blippar marks the second year in a row that the companies have partnered with The Mars Agency on the NFL's “Rookie Mistake” AR campaign. Last year's activation featured Buffalo Bills player Stefon Diggs, who won the Omni Shopper Award. Snickers launched its Rookie Mistakes platform in 2021 as a way for the Mars brand to engage with consumers throughout the football season.
Other marketers are similarly looking for ways to capitalize on the Super Bowl hype beyond traditional commercials, with 30 seconds of in-game airtime for this year's game costing brands a whopping $7 million. It is reported that it cost a lot of money. Earlier this month, sports betting platform DraftKings and antacid brand Tamms teamed up to develop a free-to-play game titled Tamms Prop Bites. The game allows consumers to freely choose details about popular food items on game day for a chance to win. Share of the total prize pool of $10,000. Also this month, Tostitos announced the return of Tost by Tostitos, a pop-up restaurant with a Las Vegas-themed twist ahead of the big game.
