Bradesco: The world's biggest simultaneous augmented reality experience

It was the biggest simultaneous augmented reality activation ever recorded in the world: more than 230,000 people accessed the experience at the same time, through a QR Code shown on Rede Globo's Altas Horas, hosted by Serginho Groisman.

Engagement with the interactive activation was a hit. Thousands of excited people shared it on their social media, showing on their phone screens the little glowing creatures bringing light and hope into their homes, next to their kids, pets and Christmas decorations.

In the first seconds of the activation, more than 160,000 people were already being graced by the presence of the beloved insects. In total, there were 671,000 voluntary visits that kept echoing for hours after the spot.

Augmented reality is a well-known technology, but mostly when it's delivered through apps users have to download from app stores, a complicated journey that makes the experience unappealing because of the high investment and limited reach.

Browser-based augmented reality, used in this activation, is something recent that lets the experience run on any phone without making users clear the download hurdle. Just open a link or point the phone's camera at a QR Code and voilà. The technology was provided by one of the world's biggest companies in the field, 8th Wall, which was largely responsible for the activation's success.

It took the best and bravest professionals in the market to sail uncharted waters. When it comes to innovation, there is no 100% safe path. After all, until then, no one had ever been there.

It's not rare to see infrastructure crash live while serving simple content like images, text or videos to millions of users. But how would the servers hold up simulating web AR at the moment hundreds of thousands of people per second opened the link on their phones? Nobody could say for sure.

Imagine the weight of responsibility on the professionals involved. A whole country watching one of the highest-rated shows on Brazilian television; one of the country's most valuable brands; one of the biggest banks in Latin America; the most talked-about and anticipated campaign of 2020; one of the biggest TV networks across 6 continents.

What could have become a feast for competitors, meme makers and web haters turned into a record: the biggest simultaneous augmented reality activation the world has ever seen. More than 260K people by the final 3 minutes of the commercial; an average of 1 minute and 30 seconds spent on the page; and thousands of moving shares that remind us how important our profession can be when the work is done well.

Now it's time to explore the possibilities and advantages this new advertising format offers, and to start thinking about the next barriers we'll break to keep our market growing and evolving, full of Delighted Clients.