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iHeartRADIO: Country Festival Fun with a Social AR Jump Game
AR ExperiencesAugmented Reality

iHeartRADIO: Country Festival Fun with a Social AR Jump Game

Author - Sneha
November 21, 2025
3 min read

Country music is all about energy, fun, and community—so for the iHeart Country Music Festival, AliveNow cranked up the interactive excitement! The solution? A signature Instagram AR* filter game where users hopped their character from one bus to the next simply by opening their mouths. This social AR activation wasn’t just a hit with fans—many […]

Country music is all about energy, fun, and community—so for the iHeart Country Music Festival, AliveNow cranked up the interactive excitement! The solution? A signature Instagram AR* filter game where users hopped their character from one bus to the next simply by opening their mouths.

This social AR activation wasn’t just a hit with fans—many of the festival’s country music stars jumped in (literally), sharing their attempts and scores as part of the festival’s digital buzz. The result: a challenge that drove thousands to play, share, and experience the festival with a smile.

What the iHeartRADIO AR Filter Game Is

  • Action-Packed AR Experience: Using Instagram’s camera, fans played a game by opening their mouths to make characters leap across brightly colored festival buses.
  • Artist-Driven UGC: Country music stars featured the filter in content, spurring fans to compete and share their own scores.
  • Made for Festival Virality: Easy to play, hard to master, and irresistibly shareable at every stage of the iHeart Country Music Festival.

Brand & Agency Benefits

  • Supercharged Engagement: Turns passive festival watching into interactive participation, delivering high-frequency brand touchpoints.
  • Celebrity Influence: Having artists use the filter accelerates organic reach and strengthens fan relationships with both artist and event.
  • Social Virality: Instagram Stories and Reels make challenged-based AR games endlessly shareable, multiplying impressions.
  • Real-Time Play: No download required, packed for instant fun at festival venues and from anywhere worldwide.
  • Memorable Experience: Blends gamification, music culture, and AR technology for lasting positive associations.

Technology Behind the Campaign

  • Created using real-time facial tracking (mouth open = jump!).
  • High-fidelity animation ensures smooth gameplay and lively character design.
  • Compatible across mobile devices, optimized for seamless festival play and content creation.

Why It Works

Pairing simple, expressive interactivity with the universal love for music festivals, the AR filter lets every fan feel like a main-stage star. When celebrities led the charge, it created a ripple effect that kept feeds—and the festival—buzzing.

Conclusion: Hit the High Note with Interactive Social AR

The iHeartRADIO AR filter shows how music events can amplify their impact by merging live energy with playful digital touchpoints. For festivals, artists, and sponsors: it’s proof that social AR is more than fun—it’s unforgettable engagement.

*IMPORTANT – While this may be an Instagram AR experience, the same experience can be built or re-created for brands on Snapchat, TikTok or Web based AR. As Instagram AR does not support AR filters from brands any more, we can build this as a Snap AR lens, TikTok Branded Effect or Web AR experience. 

About AliveNow

AliveNow is a global creative tech agency specializing in AR/VR, branded games, and immersive social experiences for the world’s most iconic brands and events.See more at www.alivenow.in

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