Snapchat has wrapped up 2023 with a retrospective look at its top ten augmented reality (AR) campaigns in Australia.

These campaigns, a mix of global and local collaborations, have reportedly engaged Snapchat's 8-million strong Australian community, according to Snap executives.

The campaigns spanned a variety of sectors, from food delivery to tourism, and included collaborations with brands such as Uber Eats, Samsung, MECCA, and the Australian Electoral Commission. The top 10 list included the Australian Electoral Commission's Referendum Education, adidas' FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 AR experience, Doritos' Street ARt lens, Barbie's Movie Release AR experience, Powerade's Women’s World Cup AR lens, UberEats' Get Almost Anything AR lens, MECCA MAX's Zoom Eye AR lens, Samsung's Flip x Miz Vogue AR campaign, Tourism New Zealand's If You Seek AR campaign, and Sculpture by the Sea 25th Exhibition's AR Sculpture with artist Mond Qu.

Snapchat's AR campaigns have been praised by representatives from the Australian Electoral Commission, UM, Doritos, Powerade, UberEats, MECCA, Tourism New Zealand, and Sculpture by the Sea. However, the company has not released specific engagement metrics for these campaigns.

"It's been such a creative year for advertisers on Snapchat in Australia. Our partners leaned into the the joy, irreverence, and spontaneity of Snapchat in fun, and unexpected ways - from shopping your favourite make-up styles, to turning the Sydney Harbour Bridge Barbie pink and even encouraging young Australians to vote in the 2023 referendum, through our incredible AR technology," said Haran Ramachandran, Snap Inc. APAC Head of Creative Strategy.

Among the examples is the Australian Electoral Commission's in-app experience with an AR lens giving the social media platform's users the ability to test their knowledge about references through a quiz. For the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, meanwhile, adidas and Snapchat created a peronsalised AR experience giving Snapchatters the ability to kick the official adidas football, while being able to digitally trial the newly debuted Crazyfast boots, released in line with the tournament.

Another example is Uber Eats' AR lens that showcased some of the things consumers wouldn't t want delivered, contrasted with the things they do deliver.

"Through an AR lens, Snapchatters were able to flip the camera and receive an Uber Eats delivery to a virtual door, unleashing the chaos in front of their eyes - from Muay Thai fighters to Fireworks to Apes - even a scary Nan," said David Griffiths, Head of Marketing at Uber & Uber Eats, Aus & NZ. "Through the leading-edge AR technology, we were able to truly bring to life the calamitous reality of getting anything delivered to your door, reminding Australians that almost, almost anything is actually the perfect amount of anything."

FMCG brand, Doritos, created the Doritos Street ARt lens, giving Snapchatters the opportunity to paint a surface to create their own personalised street ARt in the world around them. Aussies could add the limited edition Lukas Kasper designs to their street ARt, or use spray paint and paint splotch designs to craft their own unique artwork in AR. Once they finished their street ARt, they could then flip the camera again, and take a selfie with their masterpiece.

According to Snapchat, the platform now reaches 80% of 13-24 year olds and 75% of 13-34 year olds across the country. Almost 45% of Australian Snapchatters are reportedly 25 years or older.