Sony Pictures Digital Marketing Raises The Stakes On Augmented Reality With “Jumanji: The Next Level” Campaign

In the new movie Jumanji: The Next Level, in theaters Friday, December 13, players find themselves once again playing for their lives as avatars in the world’s most dangerous game.  The team at Sony Pictures Digital Marketing is putting moviegoers in their shoes by taking augmented reality, social media, and social gaming to the next level with a wide-ranging digital campaign promoting the release of the movie.

Teaming up with some of the top companies and brands – including Amazon, Candy Crush Saga, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube – the studio has created a wide range of experiences to whet the appetite for the movie.

“In Jumanji, players get pulled into the game and have to play it to survive.  We wanted to bring that experience to our campaign whenever we could,” said Elias Plishner, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Digital Marketing & Data Analytics for Sony Pictures.  “Our partners, who know their platforms better than anyone, rose to the challenge by designing programs that push the boundaries of the technology.  The only thing we aren’t doing is sending gamers to Jumanji – we tried, but legal said no.”

In the creative campaign, the studio has fostered several exciting collaborations.

In a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the studio encourages fans to visit exploreJumanji.com, one of the first voice-activated AR experiences on the web, where they can go deeper into the world of Jumanji than ever before. Built by Trigger – The Mixed Reality Agency®, and powered by AWS and 8th Wall, users who visit the website can say “show me Jumanji” to reveal exclusive content in the immersive Web AR experience. Visitors can drop in on three stunning locations from the film in detailed animation and find videos shot especially for the Web AR experience featuring the cast. Saying “buy tickets” will open a new tab for the Jumanji ticketing page, bringing fans directly to the box office.

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On Snapchat, the line between the real and Jumanji worlds also becomes blurred with a total of seven reality-bending AR experiences. A selfie lens sucks fans into a Jumanji runner game, where they can pick their favorite avatar and compete to avoid obstacles. Also, moviegoers can visit movie theaters nationwide to find photo-ops with 3D standees that are truly taken to the next level with Snapchat’s marker tracking AR technology. Unlocking the lens, fans find themselves in the middle of a stampede of ostriches and mandrills, while a giant anaconda swoops down from above. But it doesn’t stop there – not satisfied with pulling people into the world of Jumanji, Snapchat is also engulfing famous attractions around the globe with Snapchat’s Landmarker AR technology. In Los Angeles and Paris, the TCL Chinese Theater and the Eiffel Tower become covered in desert sand and dune buggies; London’s Natural History Museum and New York’s Flatiron Building transform into tropical plant-filled jungles; and ice and snow submerge the Taj Mahal in India.

On YouTube, a Jumanji augmented reality experience invites viewers to do more than just watch the trailer. It invites them to see themselves in the desert, cloud forest, and arctic worlds of the film. Kevin Hart and Jack Black can be seen demonstrating the experience. Viewers can take and share selfies of themselves in these worlds directly from the Jumanji trailer on YouTube, using their mobile devices. While watching the video, they can click on the “launch camera” button on the screen of the mobile device to enter the experience.

Candy Crush Saga is also getting in on the action. Now, players in 23 major markets can make their matches with an exclusive Jumanji-themed in-game integration – the first-ever full-sponsored brand takeover of Candy Crush Saga. Featuring a Jumanji: The Next Level home page, themed gifts, and an exclusive mini game, Candy Crush Saga players will unlock rewards by helping Dr. Smolder Bravestone rescue his “candy valet,” Franklin “Mouse” Finbar.

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On the social media platform TikTok, the studio is running a Hashtag Challenge campaign with a custom branded effect inviting the TikTok community to join in on the excitement. The #JumanjiChallenge campaign encourages the TikTok community to transport from their real lives into the game of Jumanji. A custom branded effect enticed users to put their hands up to the screen – motion activated technology then sucked users into the video game to the beat of a Jumanji soundtrack, ultimately inspiring hundreds of thousands of video creations that included body swapping, outfit changes, and location changes as users imagined what it would feel like to be a character in the game. In the past week, #JumanjiChallenge garnered over 1.4 billion video views globally. In addition to collaborating with TikTok creators from around the world, celebrities such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart and Nick Jonas joined in on the challenge fun with their own personal transformations.

Dwayne Johnson once set a record for taking more selfies in a span of three minutes than anyone in history. Now, with a little help from the creative studio Powster, his fans can take the selfie game to the next level. This WebAR experience allows users to pose for selfies with the cast of the movie – through interactive video technology, users can select group selfie companions from the full cast —Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, and Awkwafina! No app is required to launch the experience as it utilizes cutting edge WebAR technology allowing users from all over the world to get their next level selfie with the cast.

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