When talking about cars, the Ford Mustang is one of the most loved brands ever built that turned 55 years old in 2019, and people show their love for the car by taking photos of it whenever they see a Mustang roaring on the streets. To celebrate this important date, Ford wanted to get fans even closer to the Mustang and create an experience that they could carry with them forever and that would be even more memorable than a simple photo.

To create a unique experience, we developed an algorithm that uses AR to turn photos of the Mustang into rock'n'roll inspired posters designed following the style of rock art present during the era of each generation of the Mustang. To launch this experience, Ford sponsored a drag race weekend and drove all six generations of the muscle car to the event. Just like they usually do on the streets, people started taking pictures of the Mustang and were surprised by the AR experience, creating posters once they started taking photos. Each shared on social media led to a Spotify playlist with tracks from the era that inspired each design. That way, we strengthened the bond between fans and the car, and showed how the Mustang has changed throughout decades with AR posters on mobile that people shared on social media and Spotify and printed to take home.

To reach fans of the Mustang, we sponsored a drag race event, packed with car lovers and, consequently, packed with lovers of the Ford Mustang. Attendants have the custom of taking photos of all cars in these events, so when we arrived with six Mustangs – one for each generation – it wasn't any different, and they started taking photos of our cars, instantly living the experience and creating AR posters with the pictures they took.

First we crafted six posters to represent the six generations of the Mustang. Each poster was designed following the artistic style of rock'n'roll album covers and concert posters from its era. Then, we developed an algorithm that used mobile cameras to identify each generation of the Mustang and create posters with rock'n'roll references from each era through an AR experience. Once the algorithm was ready to go, we sponsored a drag race weekend and drove six Mustangs there – one for each generation of the car. When we arrived at the event, people instantly started taking photos of the vehicles and lived the AR experience we created for them, leaving with a print version of the digital poster they created that was linked to a Spotify playlist with songs that were hits during each generation.

During the entire drag race weekend, every single attendant tried the AR experience and left home with a print version of the poster they had created. The number of shared posts on social media impacted fans who didn't go to the event, who later interacted with Ford social media and were rewarded with the posters. That way, we used top of the edge technology to turn a 55-year old story into a mobile brand experience.