WebAR diving experience for Red Bull’s extreme sports event

The challenge

As it was Red Bull’s first WebAR experience for an OOH campaign, it was looking for an agency with a proven record of delivering event-based activations. In addition to understanding how to get the most out of the latest immersive technologies, support with creating marketing collateral and deploying the experience across multiple channels was essential.

The solution

Using a combination of location photography and reference capture, we recreated Red Bull’s enormous diving board in 3D. First we built the model and then we applied texturing and lighting processes to mimic the real thing. Upon activating the experience via a QR code on OOH advertisements or Snapchat, users could see the life-scale tower grow rapidly before them. They would then see a spectacular somersault dive from a diver at the top.

A key part of the project was animation — bringing both the athlete and water to life in a realistic way. This involved capturing details like the twists and turns of the dive itself and the tower’s reflection on the water.

As the timeline had been tight from the beginning, clear communication was paramount. To maintain alignment, we adopted an iterative approach and gave Red Bull visibility into concept drawings as early as possible. We also provided a live mock-up and testing environment, enabling feedback loops to circulate in real time. 

Equally important to the project’s success was the shared understanding that AR experiences do not exist in isolation. Instead, they must be integrated into a wider marketing campaign. Ensuring that consumers would discover the experience both outside in the Boston area and remotely via social media was essential.