TNT
PUNCHFACE
A second-screen UFC activation that turned smartphones into punch controllers, giving TNT fans a fast, physical way to compete and share their score.
(Fans punched a real UFC fighter)
01 — The Challenge
Turn passive UFC sponsorship into active fan participation.
TNT Energy Drink was the official sponsor of the UFC, one of the world's most watched combat sports. However, traditional sponsorship operates at a distance: fans watch, brands appear, and engagement remains largely passive. The challenge was to move beyond visibility and create genuine participation.
The Insight: UFC fans don't just want to watch fights — they want to imagine themselves inside the octagon. They want to experience the fantasy of delivering the knockout punch, feeling the impact and becoming the champion. This revealed an opportunity: to transform spectators into participants.
The Solution: We designed an interactive experience that allowed fans to engage with a UFC fighter. Users punched the air and watched the fighter react in real time on a computer screen, turning a simple interaction into a playful simulation of a fight. The core mechanic was Punch → Reaction → Score → Share.
02 — The Campaign Brief
Bringing the UFC experience into fans' hands
TNT Energy Drink partnered with the UFC to explore how sponsorship could evolve beyond brand exposure and become a participatory experience. The brief was not simply to promote the brand, but to create a moment where technology, entertainment, and physical interaction merged into a single fan experience.
Primary Goal: Design an interactive activation that allowed UFC fans to experience the intensity of being inside the ring — translating adrenaline, competition, and impact into a mobile-first interaction.
Strategic Intent
Reinforce TNT's positioning as an energy-driven brand
Increase active fan participation rather than
passive viewing
Use technology as an emotional bridge between fans and the sport
03 — Interactive Experience Design
The PunchFace mechanic.
The concept was simple. Users punched the air with their smartphones and a real UFC fighter on the screen would react instantly. The device's accelerometer would translate each movement into responses ranging from subtle hits to dramatic knockdowns.
The core interaction: users faced a UFC fighter, delivered a punch, and received immediate visual feedback simulating real impact.
Real-time scoring reinforced performance feedback while seamlessly integrating TNT branding into the interaction itself.
Real-Time Engagement
Each punch generated a numerical score. Users could see how powerful their punch was and share their performance on social media, generating organic, viral content..
Outcome: Fans shared their punch scores on social media, turning individual interactions into organic amplification and extending campaign reach beyond paid media. User-generated content became the campaign's distribution channel.
04 — Multi-Channel Campaign
Multi-channel campaign
The campaign expanded beyond the app into a multi-channel activation combining social media, UFC fighter partnerships (José Aldo and Júnior "Cigano" dos Santos), press coverage, and Facebook integration
Users shared punch results directly to social feeds.
Result: The campaign integrated TNT into the UFC experience, increasing engagement beyond traditional sponsorship.
05 — Technical & Creative Direction
Design and development strategy.
The experience was designed as a desktop interaction within Facebook. Smartphones functioned as motion controllers, capturing punch speed through device sensors and transmitting the data to the Facebook interface, where users viewed the fighter and received real-time feedback.
TNT's signature red-and-black colour scheme, striking typography and high-contrast UFC imagery reinforced the sense of intensity, focusing attention on the physical interaction.
Smartphone motion sensors captured punch velocity and synchronized it with the desktop experience.
06 — Campaign & Functionality Videos
Campaign Promo
Official campaign video presenting the PunchFace concept, featuring UFC fighters and the interactive experience.
Live Functionality
Walkthrough demonstrating the PunchFace experience, including punch detection and real-time scoring.
07 — Industry Recognition
Award-Winning Campaign
2014 One Show Interactive merit: Mobile User Experience
2014 One Show Interactive merit: Websites
FWA: Website of the day
FWA: Mobile of the day
08 — Campaign Learnings
What PunchFace taught me.
This project became one of my first opportunities to explore how digital interactions can translate into meaningful real-world experiences.
International press coverage highlighted the global reach of the interactive campaign.
Interactive experiences outperform static advertising by turning audiences into participants rather than spectators.
The mechanic succeeded because it was instantly understandable: punch, score, share. Simplicity enabled scale.
Collaborating with real UFC fighters reinforced authenticity and aligned the experience with the sport's culture.
Social sharing, press coverage, and platform integration transformed the activation into a broader cultural moment.
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