Scoob! from the Warner Animation Group is the first major motion picture release in almost a generation for the Scooby Doo franchise. Warner Bros. was eager to excite classic fans and to engage the imaginations of younger audiences ready for a brand-new, big-screen experience.

To announce the return of Scooby and the gang, we created a series of Social AR lenses across Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram, with a unique approach of promoting and directing traffic to the AR effects from a central promotional site at scoobselfie.com.

To announce the return of Scooby and the gang, we created a series of social AR lenses across Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram, with a unique approach of promoting and directing traffic to the AR effects from a central promotional site at scoobselfie.com.

Bringing Scoob to Life

We were fortunate to begin our work with access to 3D character meshes from the film's production. (While our team can model characters from scratch by using reference images, starting from the bona fide production assets definitely speeds up the process.)

Our next steps are to optimize the character meshes, create new physically-based textures for the character (allowing us to simulate the visual properties of fur, a shiny collar, or other materials), and then rig and animate the character.

Scoob Selfie

Scoob! begins with a young Shaggy meeting puppy Scooby for the very first time. The studio hoped to begin their awareness campaign by introducing the cute puppy Scooby to audiences, focusing on his appeal to make an interactive that carried an immediate, emotional connection.

Our solution was to design a selfie experience that would allow the user to pose with the puppy, with a degree of control (users can alternate him between foreground and over-the-shoulder positions, and "kiss" to prompt him to lick), but we also programmed in a level of autonomy: Scooby automatically shifts from one shoulder to another to get into the best position for a photo, and can shift himself from front to back or choose to suddenly lick users.

Each action is fluid and interruptible—the result makes for a feeling of spontaneity while also giving users room to tell their own story as they pose with the pup.

Playing Fetch

Another level of audience storytelling was unlocked by allowing audiences to place Scooby into their own home environments.

Through careful management of asset sizes, we were able to include this "world-facing" functionality in the same AR effect as the "selfie" experience described above; users simply flipped the direction of their camera to begin a game of fetch with Scooby.

The "Scoob Selfie" AR effect, launched simultaneously on Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, and easily accessible through the dedicated website at scoobselfie.com, debuted with a special callout at the end of the film's first trailer reveal on Good Morning, America.

Re-introducing the Gang

Now that audiences had discovered the charms of young Scooby, it was time to reconnect them with the rest of the gang at Mystery, Inc. and bring back all the positive memories of those iconic characters: Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred.

Which Character Are You?

In the final days of December 2019, the "Which Disney Are You?" fan-made Instagram meme emerged like a cannon shot, with celebrities like musician Diplo, model Haley Bieber, and actress Zelda Williams sharing their selfies in the run-up to the New Year.

Getting in on the fun, we worked rapidly in concert with the marketing team at Warner Bros. and, within days, had created an effect across Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram that matched users with Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, or Fred.

It was a perfect match for audiences, generating tens of millions of shares and keying into the classic characters' unique archetypes and the spirit of sharing and personal storytelling that drove the popularity of "Which are you" memes in general.

Get in the Van

The Mystery Machine was a classic piece of Scooby mythology that we couldn't resist giving fans a special moment with. We created an effect that, on the selfie side, let fans and influencers join Scoob and the gang inside the Mystery Machine, while, on the rear-facing world lens, they could walk around and explore a life-sized 3D version of the van.

Extended Activations

Deployed to dozens of countries, the selfie experiences were kept fresh for fans by reflecting moments in public conversation like holidays, fan conventions, and major sporting events.

Variants of the Scoob selfie experience included celebrations of "puppy bowl", winter holidays, the Brazilian Carnival, and the CCXP fan convention.

The "fetch" side experience also changed to match themes, allowing Scoob to fetch a football during the Super Bowl, and a bone wrapped with a bow at the holidays.

As the film's premiere approached, new music by Charlie Puth was added to the several of the lenses to help promote interest in the soundtrack and singles, giving the campaign another bump as music fans shared the lenses virally.

Photo Booth App

We also developed a "photo booth" iPad app for deployment globally that allowed folks to pose with Scoob at events and high foot traffic locations like shopping malls and theaters, either as part of a kiosk installation or at the invitation of a brand ambassador.

In addition to driving awareness, engagement, and social sharing, it was a great way to gather contact information for reconnecting with fans in the future.

Snap Camera

As the pandemic began to unfold and video conference usage was peaking, a key sponsored placement was secured within Snap Camera. Our team made some adjustments to optimize the Scoob Selfie lens for use on desktop, allowing for additional reach and visibility the week of the film’s premiere.

Puppy Power

The AR campaign was viewed as a huge success, having generated tens of millions of impressions worldwide, tens of thousands of shares, and countless hours of engagement.

"The rollout of SCOOB! branded lenses was a great addition to the promotion of the film. It gave the marketing team the ability to leverage this AR technology timed to big moments in the campaign and allowed fans and talent alike to interact with the IP.”

- Matt Tolchin, Warner Bros. Marketer

The overall Scoob! campaign was validated when the film—forced to pivot to digital release amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic—instantly became the #1 seller across all streaming services. It would go on to become, at the time of this writing, the third most popular premium on-demand title of 2020.