[Creative Concept] [Art Direction] [Copywriting]
Creative Partner: Andy Russell
On fight night, UFC fans draw the biggest subscriber audiences in the world. The UFC brand wanted to ensure they retained their attention through social and so set the task of devising an entertaining and compelling way to connect with their audience and bring them back before every major event.
Staredowns in the UFC feature some of the most tense, anything-could-happen moments in sport. We saw the perfect chance to pitch an idea for a game based on the staredown that would reflect the same hype, drama and intensity for a fanbase that was as passionate about the sport as the contenders themselves.
Using webcams or smartphones, fans were challenged to face the 4 biggest contenders featured in UFC 242 to a virtual staredown. To win, they had to react to their opponents emotions. In order to track and score the players’ emotions in real-time, we used Microsoft Oxford, an intelligent API that was trained to map facial expressions by recognising small changes in features.
The result was so good that UFC wanted to continue using the game for every major UFC event, adding new fighters to the roster each time.
