This year we not only wanted to let every fan see the dunk, but experience it for themselves. So we created an interactive augmented reality experience that leveraged the native “lens” functionality and facial recognition of Snapchat to allow fans to create a user-generated video of themselves getting virtually dunked

The Snapchat Gatorade dunk went live on Snapchat the day of the Super Bowl, Feb. 7, 2016, and featured a 3-D representation of the iconic Gatorade cooler seen on every NFL sideline. Through Snapchat’s facial recognition technology, users could select the Gatorade lens and open their mouths to activate an interactive augmented reality Gatorade cooler to splash over their head and body, giving the impression that the user had just experienced a true Gatorade dunk. Users could share the special moment directly with individual friends via “Snaps” or to all of their Snapchat connections by placing a photo or video of the dunk in their “Snapchat Story.”

• 165,339,701 Total Platform Views 

• 8,231,033 Unique User-Generated Videos

• 60,881,205 Total Engagements

• 29.91 Seconds Per Use

Additionally, a Millward Brown study was conducted and found:

• Increased brand favorability 1.4 times more than norms for mobile campaigns from well-known CPG companies

• Increased purchase intent 2 times more than norms for mobile campaigns from well-known CPG companies

• Recall was 1.5 times higher than norms for social campaigns from well-known CPG companies

• Snapchatters who remembered seeing the lens reported seeing themselves, family members or close friends inside the ad as a major differentiator from other Super Bowl TV ads with large reach

• 85% of Snapchatters who remembered seeing the lens said that it made them happy, not typically the emotion people associate with watching ads

• 88% of Snapchatters who remembered seeing the ad said they loved or liked it

Snapchatters who saw the lens were 21% more likely to call Gatorade their go-to drink when exercising

Our research showed that more of the brand’s social media fans between the ages of 13-34 were shunning first-generation social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in favor of Snapchat. In fact, more than 60% of U.S. 13- to 34-year-old smartphone users are active Snapchatters, and are up to eight times more likely to use the platform versus TV for viewing and communicating about live events such as the Super Bowl.

For the past 30 years, Gatorade has crowned the champions of the Super Bowl with the iconic dunk at the end of the game. Although it is seen by millions of broadcast viewers, it’s only been experienced by a select few individuals since its inception. So how could the brand allow its fans on social media to take part in the celebration?