Forward-thinking restaurant owners and quick-service food retailers understand the importance of using tech to keep their products top of mind with consumers. This strategy has become especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many people turn to the web and their mobile phones for home food delivery.
Augmented reality (AR) filters provide the perfect vehicle for fast food to use hyper-realistic 3D holograms of their food to create unforgettable customer experiences that elevate their brand presence.
That’s why when Upcoming Media got the chance to work with one of the world’s leading fast-food chains to develop a fantastic filter to promote one of their new products, we jumped at the opportunity to help.
THE PROJECT
The project was for popular fast-food restaurant Wendy’s and their new campaign, Hot & Crispy Fries Guaranteed. The highlights of the campaign included:
- The fries are guaranteed to be hot and crispy, or Wendy’s will replace them for free
- In a national taste test, Wendy’s Hot & Crispy Fries were preferred by a nearly 2 to 1 margin over McDonald’s French fries
- Former McDonald’s Chef Mike Haracz appears in a promotional video endorsing Wendy’s new fries
Wendy’s was interested in exploring concepts to help introduce their new menu item to their target audience of 18 to 34-year-old fans of quick-service restaurants with an exciting, unforgettable AR filter experience.
ABOUT THE COLLABORATORS
To help promote the new fries, Meta (formerly Facebook) approached Upcoming Media Inc. to partner with them and VidMob to create an AR filter that would entice customers to order Wendy’s new Hot & Crispy fries.
META
Formerly Facebook, Meta is the owner of Spark AR Studio, a cutting-edge platform used by content creators to publish, manage, track and understand the performance of their AR effects across Facebook’s family of apps and devices.
VIDMOB
VidMob is the world’s leading platform for intelligent creatives. They provide an integrated platform combining AI-powered innovative analytics with a production workflow system connected to a global network of expert creators.
UPCOMING MEDIA
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Upcoming Media is a North American leader in developing compelling web and mobile AR experiences and Meta, Instagram, and Snapchat filters for leading brands who want to up-level their customer engagement.
THE UPCOMING MEDIA SOLUTION
We developed a unique customized solution using Spark AR technology that created a twist on the famous “Catch Fruit in the Basket” AR filter. Our team’s goal was to transform real-world action into instant online orders for Wendy’s Hot & Crispy Fries and potential upsells.
Our AR filter experience combines the latest image-capturing technology with cutting-edge “stitching” software to create hyper-realistic 3D models. The models are used within the filter to create a fun, engaging AR experience that helps sell more food, build guest loyalty, and build meaningful relationships with Wendy’s brand.
Here’s how the experience works:
- After launching the experience, the user is prompted to open their mouth to start the minigame
- The timer and other information appear in a floating window at the top of the screen
- The game begins after a five-second countdown
- “Hot & Crispy” fries and “cold & soggy” fries start to fall from the top of the screen
- The user earns points for every Hot & Crispy fry they catch in their mouth and loses a point for every cold & soggy fry they catch
- After the game is complete, the user can play again simply by tapping on the empty fry container
Wendy’s approved the concept, and we deployed the filter across Meta (Facebook) and Instagram to entertain their millions of followers with this amazing experience!
Try the AR Filter for yourself!
Experience on Meta: https://bit.ly/wendys_meta
Experience on Instagram: https://bit.ly/wendys_insta
Customized AR Solutions in Toronto, Canada, and Around the World
Have a specialized need that will enhance your customer experience through AR technology? Talk to us! Upcoming Media can help bring your concept to life from the initial design and build stages right up through launch day. No matter how complex your idea is, our development team has the AR technology experience to create interactive solutions that your customers will love.
Connect with us at contact@upcomingmedia.com for more information!
