Monday Mashups: Our Crystal Ball is Showing a Great Future for Snapchat's AR Feature

Just in time for Halloween, Jägermeister is conjuring up magic—via augmented reality. Called “Divine the Darke,” BizBash shares the experience from the German spirits (the alcoholic kind, not the otherworldly ones) brand delivers tarot-card readings using Snapchat. And it's just as thrilling as you'd expect!

How it works: Consumers locate and scan Snapcodes that are embedded in Jägermeister’s collateral material, such as custom coasters at bars and retail locations throughout the U.S. The code will unlock a custom Snapchat lens within the app, which will be available to users for one hour. Similar to what a lot of wineries are doing with their labels and the Living Wine Labels app, the branded AR filter brings up Jägermeister imagery, including its signature stag logo, along with tarot cards. Users can then tap on the card to reveal their cocktail fate, a.k.a., drinks that incorporate the digestif liqueur.

But why tarot? “As consumers look toward new means to help them navigate a future that seems more uncertain than ever, modern mysticism has reached new heights,” explains Heather Kozera, vice president of integrated marketing at Mast-Jägermeister U.S. We really dig this explanation!

“From crystals to fortune tellers, brands are taking advantage of consumers’ growing appetite for new age spiritualism,“ she continued. “There’s no better time for Jägermeister to unveil a custom augmented-reality tarot card experience that taps into a cultural space, connecting the brand with their millennial target. The Divine the Darke augmented experience offers consumers a glimpse into what their futures might hold in an irreverent and non-traditional way.”

This new AR experience, which was created in partnership with the brand’s digital agency of record Firstborn, utilizes Snapchat’s Lens Studio, which debuted in December 2017 and allows creators to design their own lens or filters for the social-media app. Recently, new advanced AR features that were previously only available to Snapchat’s internal designers were added to Lens Studio. (Snapchat’s C.E.O., Evan Spiegel, recently stated that AR will be a focus of the app’s strategy in 2019.)

“For this campaign, we are looking to engage millennial consumers,” Kozera said. “We feel that Snapchat’s platform will bring a better experience to our target by seamlessly integrating Jägermeister into a night of fun.”

So head to your nearest liquor store and prepare to devour the details of  your true fate just in time for Halloween with the help of Jägermeister. Cheers!