- Netflix is running a first-of-its-kind 3D World Lens on Snapchat that serves as a portal into its show “Stranger Things.” The augmented reality experience is timed with the release of the show’s second season, releasing today. The Snapchat lens lets users interact with various easter eggs, which are brought to life using augmented reality. The series’ theme song plays in the background.
You don’t have to be Will or Joyce Byers to be a part of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” Thanks to Snapchat, now anyone can take a virtual walk around Joyce’s memorable living room from the show.
To promote the second season of the hit sci-fi thriller series, Netflix is unveiling a first-of-its-kind 3D World Lens on Snapchat that serves as a portal into the show and all its horrors – literally.
Fans can tap the lens to experience the various elements of the room, from the floral wallpaper and striped couch to the painted alphabets and colored fairy lights. They can also walk around the room to find and interact with various easter eggs, which are brought to life using augmented reality. The series’ theme song plays in the background.
For example, if you tap the fairy lights on your mobile screen, they will light up. Or if you touch the bookshelf, the books will wall off. And if you dare to tap the hole in the wall, a Demogorgon arm will come dangling out. The series’ theme song continually plays in the background.
Here's what it looks like:
The experience is available to Snapchatters today, October 27, across over 10 global markets including the US and the UK. There are two versions of the experience depending on the market.
Users can either access the experience by literally walking in and out of an actual portal door that appears in front of them once they unlock the lens, or directly be transported into the living room through a gyroscope lens.
In addition, people in the US and Canada also have automatic access to a face lens that mimics the supernatural character Eleven's nosebleed in their Snapchat apps. And if they swap their cameras, they will be transported directly to the living room through the gyroscope Lens.
What's more, for the first time ever, users can also unlock the lenses using Shazam in Snapchat when the show's theme song plays, for instance, while watching the opening credits. Otherwise the 'Stranger Things' AR experience can be found alongside Snapchat's roster of other lenses.
Netflix will also enable people to unlock the lenses via Snapcodes, Snapchat's own version of QR codes that can be used to access branded filters, lenses, custom websites and even Snapchat-specific mobile games. Netflix will be sharing these Snapcodes on its social channels. Unlock the lens using this Snapcode below:
While Snapchat has always been ahead of the curve on augmented reality with its famous face filters and lenses, these digital products are getting increasingly more interactive. For example, the company recently unveiled sponsored 3D World Lenses, which let brands allow users to play around with 3D experiences in their surroundings via the app. Brands including Bud Light and Warner Bros. have used 3D World Lenses.
They also seem to be driving results for advertisers. According to Snapchat in-app polling by Nielsen, ad campaigns with lenses typically drive a 19.7 percentage point lift in ad awareness, a 6.4 point lift in brand awareness, and a 3.4 point lift in a person's intent to take an action, like make a purchase.
For its part, Netflix has also been pushing the envelope this year with its marketing efforts. Apart from the Snapchat push, the streaming giant has partnered with Lyft to let riders in Philadelphia and Los Angeles take an immersive "Stranger Things" ride - featuring static sounds, slugs, lights turning on and off and people in hazmat suits - today if they opt for "Strange Mode" on the app.
It also went all out promoting the third season of Narcos earlier this year, hiding ads for the show in all the places it thought people did cocaine in the '90s.