Sport & Entertainment

Immersive brand experience at the gamescom for JBL

JBL commissioned UpReach with a full-service mandate for the gamescom: the interior design and technological infrastructure of an interactive experience space — not an isolated photo-booth set-up, but a complete brand world. The set-up combined a custom-designed retro-arcade gamification module, an AI photo booth with influencer integration and a data-gating system for lead capture. The hardware ran under extreme continuous load — thousands of gaming visitors a day — with no system failure.

More than 200 B2B brands from across Europe trust UpReach — from agencies to enterprise corporations.

The initial situation

The gamescom is the epicentre of the gaming industry. The audience — Gen Z, gamers, content creators — expects immersive brand worlds, not product tables on display. For JBL that meant: the space has to stand out from the sensory overload of the exhibition hall.

The technical challenge was layered: the architecture required a continuous visitor flow — attract, interact, capture data — without losing the visitor at any point. All touchpoints had to be combined on one terminal so that no device switch interrupts the flow.

The influencer problem: the brand ambassadors could not be physically present at the stand around the clock. The AI photo booth had to scale their presence to 100% of the show time.

The UpReach solution

UpReach designed a continuous brand world. At its centre stood a custom-programmed retro-arcade gamification module — in the aesthetic of an arcade classic, but with brand branding on every pixel. To play and take part in the main prize draw, gamers had to enter their contact details via a GDPR opt-in form (data gate). Gamification psychology works here: no gamer drops out over a form before starting the game, if they already came to the terminal motivated.

The second touchpoint was the UpReach AI photo booth. Since the influencers could not be present at the stand permanently, they were digitised: through the AI engine, trade visitors could have themselves projected visually next to their gaming idols in real time. The finished influencer selfie was output with the brand watermark and a QR code for social-media sharing.

Both touchpoints ran on one terminal — a continuous workflow with no device switch.

Setup & Logistics

Lead time seven weeks: three weeks for gamification development (retro-arcade game module, game logic, prize-draw mechanic, GDPR data-gate configuration), two weeks for AI photo-booth configuration (influencer digitisation: capturing reference images of the brand ambassadors, training the AI model for correct visual integration, CI branding overlays), one week for interior-design coordination with the stand-build team, one week for set-up and full-operation testing under high-load simulation.

Custom hardware integration: the terminal was integrated directly into the stand's interior design — not a visible standard terminal, but an architectural element of the brand world.

Campaign duration: the entire show. On-site support by UpReach technicians during the gamescom. Remote monitoring via the cloud CMS for lead figures and device status.

Results by the numbers

combined experience formats

100 %

influencer presence

Stabil

under continuous load

The experience space became a heavily frequented hotspot at the gamescom. The combination of arcade nostalgia, influencer selfie and prize draw created a dwell time at the stand that far exceeded the average of a product presentation.

The gamification mechanic as the entry into the data gate produced high lead-conversion rates: anyone who is already taking part in the arcade game and sees their potential prize enters their email address at the next step. The timing of the data gate — right before the prize is awarded — is the decisive psychological factor.

The AI influencer photos were shared widely on social-media platforms. Every shared post carried the brand watermark and spread the campaign aesthetic organically through the gaming audience.

Key takeaways from this setup

Influencer scaling through AI: brand ambassadors are expensive and can only be present at the stand for a few hours. The AI photo booth scales their visual presence to 100% of the show time — with no scheduling, no fee.

Gamification as the gateway to the data gate: a retro-arcade game attracts the gaming audience. Mandatory data entry before the game starts — not after — maximises the lead-conversion rate, because the motivation to play outweighs the threshold to enter data.

An end-to-end experience beats individual measures: hardware, software and stand build have to merge architecturally. A bolted-on standard terminal in a high-end show environment devalues the brand effect.

Trade-show continuous load needs an offline buffer: trade-show Wi-Fi is chronically unstable. For the gamescom, offline mode was booked, so that the capture and output path kept running even during a Wi-Fi disruption, and leads were buffered encrypted and synced afterwards.