Circle K pilots new Rewarded AR ads in Pokémon Go

Niantic and 8th Wall were busy last week at Cannes, revealing a new rewarded AR ad platform and showcasing an interesting case study featuring Circle K …

The new Rewarded AR ad format sees Niantic doubling down on AR, backing the innovation’s potential with research forecasting that there will be 1.7 billion global mobile AR users by 2024, per Statistafindings cited in the release. The product release was timed to this week’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where the company is the official AR partner. The move arrives as interest from marketers in AR-fueled activations persist, with brands like Ikea, Shake Shack and TripAdvisor among some of the latest to adopt the tech.

Circle K was of the first to pilot the new ads within Pokémon Go to promote its new coffee offering. For the effort, players of the game were presented with an ad, which looked like a floating balloon, that guided them to interact with a larger-than-life coffee cup and encouraged them to go to a physical location to try the coffee. The campaign saw an average engagement rate of 76% and an average completion rate of 95% for the experience.

Full story at Marketing Dive.