The pandemic transformed shopping experiences and consumer behavior, creating a challenge for Lunchables that affected sales. Kids were less likely shop in store with parents because of COVID, reducing kid requests for parents to purchase Lunchables.

To combat this decline in sales, the brand introduced a series of innovative on-pack QR codes that connected customers to augmented reality (AR) promotions to drive display, volume, and sales lift in Q2; generate excitement for Lunchables products; and enhance brand loyalty with consumers.

Lunchables’ brand purpose is to “Power Kids Forward” by inviting and inspiring kids to be creative, have fun along the way, and embrace their independence and individuality. The Lunchables Adventure for Lost Treasure program helped solidify the brand’s role in both building kid independence and providing fun as kids had the opportunity to enter different AR worlds to explore, play games, and win exciting Lunchables prizes!

In the Lunchables Adventure for Lost Treasure campaign, we built a series of augmented reality experiences to take families to a place of excitement and fun. We included chances to win thousands of prizes to drive visits and time spent interacting with Lunchables.

On-pack QR codes and integrated media drove parents and kids to the promotion site to view the adventure map and explore four immersive virtual worlds we called the Aqua, Jungle, Woodland, and Desert Adventures. Participants could then dive into these 360-degree augmented reality worlds and search for the lost treasure chest. Once the treasure chest was located, participants clicked to see if they instantly won.

For added offline engagement, downloadable coloring sheets were provided. And to drive purchase, only consumers who entered the unique code from specially marked packages of Lunchables earned an entry into the $10,000 grand prize sweepstakes.

The Lunchables Adventure for Lost Treasure targeted its core demographic of millennial families raising children (ages six to twelve) who want to create environments to empower children.

Four main insights helped determine the best strategy for the Adventure for Lost Treasure campaign:

1. The team knew that parents and kids desired adventure after being stuck at home together during COVID.

2. Kid-forward and creative activations historically help drive requests for Lunchables during shopping trips; however kids were not accompanying their parents to the grocery store, so we needed a way to engage kids and parents at home.

3. Gaming is an activity parents and kids enjoy together, so we incorporated gamification elements in an exciting experience that parents and kids could connect over.

4. We know purchase increases when there is a chance to win, so incorporating relevant prizing was critical to drive appeal and purchase motivation.

In-store QR codes, promotional messages on product packaging, and integrated media encouraged families to start the adventure at LunchablesAdventure.com. Digital marketing included animated banners, social posts, and influencer content; retailer marketing also pointed consumers to the website.

The website was an immersive experience for parents and kids to explore virtual worlds and hunt for treasure. If they found treasure in any of the four augmented reality experiences, they could enter to instantly win a prize. To excite and motivate participants, the prizes featured items that sparked creativity, encouraged kids to be active, and provided hands-on experiences to have fun. The prizing also allowed kids and parents to have fun at home when COVID was still a factor. Thousands of bikes, inline skates, and science and art kits were up for grabs! Additionally, to motivate purchase, specially marked Lunchables packages included on-pack codes for a chance to win $10,000.

Lunchables Adventure for Lost Treasure was very successful in both motivating consumers to purchase and driving brand engagement, resulting in strong KPIs that exceeded all benchmarks:

• The campaign effectively motivated consumers to purchase, driving 27.8% sales lift.

• More than 147,000 consumers entered the promotion.

• Participants played the instant win game nearly 600,000 times, leading to a high frequency of return plays (average of four plays per registrant).

• Consumers were highly engaged with the augmented reality experiences as they played an additional 80,000 times, just for fun (average time spent per visit was three minutes, 24 seconds).

• 41% of registrants submitted on-pack codes, demonstrating the effectiveness of driving purchase with a grand prize sweepstakes.