Nestle Munch partnered with four teams from the Indian Premier League (IPL) – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders – for a 2022 season immersive gaming experience activation incentivised by offering fans/participants a chance to meet their favourite cricketers.
The campaign, which was conceived and crafted by agency Wunderman Thompson India, was an experiential, immersive gaming experience that aimed to drive awareness of and engagement with the Nestle Munch brand.
The special, limited-edition Nestle Munch packs featuring players from the brand’s four partner teams aims to encourage kids ‘to continue crunching with confidence with their favourite heroes’.
The gamified experience is accessed via Nestle Munch packaging codes which, when scanned, take consumers to a one-of-a-kind 360° digital experience with their favourite team. These include a variety of fun, cricket-themed games where consumers are challenged to score runs which can be redeemed for exclusive digital rewards, signed merchandise, or even a virtual meet and greet with the players. Fans can also take photos with their favourite players using attractive AR filters.
The initiative was promoted through team assets and via a digital and social campaign backed by PR.
The campaign was created by WT Experiential, a specialist team within agency Wunderman Thompson India, which uses insights, creative and technology to build immersive consumer experiences.
“We are really thrilled about how we are leveraging technology to bring alive this exciting partnership between Munch and the loved sport of Cricket,” explained Nestle India Head Of Confectionary Rupali Rattan. “It not only enables youngsters to play specially curated, fun games but also enables them to come up close with their favourite cricketing heroes in an augmented reality universe so they continue to be inspired and stay confident.”
Wunderman Thompson Delhi Managing Partner Joy Chauhan added: “As we rapidly move towards a digital first economy and spend more and more of our time online, getting consumer’s attention and time through new and emerging technology has become imperative for the brands. The dependence of consumers on technology reflects in time they spent on social media, use technology for commerce, and even use technology for their wellbeing which in turn necessitates for the brands to leverage this changing consumer behaviour and be a part of this evolving journey.”
Wunderman Thompson India VP and Executive Business Director Of Experiential Amit Rangra added: “We wanted to get cricket fans at the forefront to get inspired by their on-field heroes in line with brand essence of Munch. The tech first approach rides on ‘scan and tap’ ecosystem that delivers an immersive interactive experience of the playing field, for fans to take the centre stage, engage and stand a chance to meet their favourite cricket Heroes. We have built an experience that not only gamifies the engagement using hyper casual game but also excites and make it as real as it can be with use of augmented reality that brings alive the cricket fan fan experience in their own environment. The technology first experience would help us connect Munch with its audience across demographics and geography and make it truly large scale immersive experiential engagement.”
Comment
This cricket season brand experience builds on the trend for augmented reality initiatives linked to a gaming experience for hyper casual gamers: an immersive marketing approach using emerging technology to drive engagement in a fresh, inventive way.
It was back in In April 2022 that Nestle Munch partnered with four IPL franchises – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders – as the ‘Official Crunch Partners’ for the 2022 cricket season
At the time the deals were signed representatives from the four franchises said:
Royal Challengers Bangalore Vice President Rajesh Menon: “We are delighted to partner with Nestle MUNCH. It is a season of some nerve-wracking and entertaining brand of cricket and with this partnership, we hope to bring cheer and joy to our fans.”
Kolkata Knight Riders CMO Binda Dey: “Along with MUNCH we have got a series of exciting activations that will help us share KKR’s journey with fans across. Our commitment to fans continues through our fan engagement initiatives and we look forward to having a great season ahead with MUNCH onboard”
Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon: “We are equally excited to have a reputed organization such as Nestlé India onboard and we hope this association brings forth the inherent values of brand “MUNCH” which is youthful, peppy and full of life which resonates with the sports ‘Cricket’ and T20 format in particular”.
Sunrisers Hyderabad CEO K Shanmugam: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome MUNCH to family. We share a common vision to help empower and encourage younger generations to achieve their goals. With this partnership, we hope to inspire more people to pursue their passion with confidence and belief.”
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