Burger King X Pepsi Gamified Retail Campaign
Burger King and Pepsi set out to launch a gamified retail marketing campaign that would drive in-store traffic, engage younger audiences and build long-term customer loyalty. The goal was to move beyond traditional promotions and create an experience customers could actively participate in.
Our Approach
We designed an AR-powered, geolocation-based reward hunt that transformed everyday store locations into interactive game environments. As part of this gamified retail marketing campaign, virtual “X” markers were dropped in front of Burger King storefronts, encouraging customers to visit physical locations, collect tokens and unlock rewards.
By combining gamification with real-world incentives, the campaign turned store visits into an interactive experience. Customers were encouraged to return, explore and participate multiple times, reinforcing engagement and building ongoing customer loyalty.
How It Worked
The experience was delivered through a web-based game, accessible via a simple link and distributed seamlessly across multiple communication channels, including social media, digital campaigns and in-store touchpoints.
With no app download required, customers could instantly join and engage within a familiar mobile experience. Players explored their surroundings, collected virtual tokens and unlocked rewards ranging from free menu items to exclusive Pepsi offers.
To enhance cultural relevance and shareability, the campaign featured digital collectibles created in collaboration with South African artist African Ginger, blending gamified marketing with creative expression.
The result was a scalable gamified retail marketing campaign that combined location-based gameplay, rewards and seamless distribution across communication channels to drive measurable engagement and repeat participation.
250 000+ Game plays by registered users
70 % Prize redemption rate in-store
50% Conversion from web visits to registrations
Ezelna Broome
Group Marketing Executive
“Working with IRL on the Burger King x Pepsi campaign was a fantastic experience. Their innovative tech solutions, especially the use of Augmented Reality, really set the campaign apart and engaged our customers in a new and exciting way. The ability to create geotargeted experiences that blended seamlessly with our brand objectives made a huge impact on our engagement rates.
The platform was incredibly user-friendly for both our team and customers, allowing us to offer unique, interactive experiences that were a major hit. We were impressed with how easy it was to collect meaningful customer data without compromising the experience. IRL was highly responsive and adapted quickly to any changes, which made the whole process smooth and efficient.
Overall, it was a pleasure working with their team, and we look forward to future collaborations!”
behind the scenes
Campaign breakdown