The emotional connections people make with brands through sight, sound, and motion are undeniable. We have seen it with television and digital video. But as technology continues to evolve, customer experiences are moving away from just what people see to immersing them in the brand experience itself. One technology that’s truly shaking up the world is Augmented Reality (AR), which superimposes an image onto a user’s view of the real world and enhances it with sound, touch, and even smell.
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive 3D experience that combines a view of the real world with computer-generated elements. AR is different from VR in that VR is a completely self-contained
computer environment while AR layers computer elements among real objects in real-time.
• Examples of Augmented Reality:
Product marketing:
HOME DEPOT:
In 2015, Home Depot released their Project Color app, which uses patent technology to show users what a paint color will look like in their home. The AR technology takes into account lighting, objects, and shadows in the room, so you can see how that yellow shade will look in real life.
TIMBERLAND:
In the interest of convenience and comfortability, Timberland created a virtual fitting room in Moktow Gallery in 2014. Using Kinect motion-sensing technology, Timberland’s virtual fitting room allowed shoppers to see an image of their face, and a similarly-sized model body, in different outfits.
SEPHORA:
Sephora understands this struggle and created an augmented reality experience, Virtual Artist App, with ModiFace to ensure Sephora app users can see how makeup products will look on their faces via their phone’s camera. Users can also find out which tools or products they’ll need to apply certain products.
TACO BELL:
Taco Bell placed an AR feature on each Locos Tacos box and soda cup for their Doritos shell campaign. When a user scanned the box with the Taco Bell app, they could see product-related Twitter and Facebook content on their phones. By connecting their users with live social media content, Taco Bell successfully used AR to cultivate a stronger sense of community. They also showcased their brand as a major player in innovation, particularly in the fast-food industry.
STUBHUB:
For Super Bowl LII, StubHub introduced an AR feature on their mobile app that allowed ticket buyers to see a virtual 3D model of the U.S. Bank Stadium, as well as nearby parking garages and concession stands. This enabled potential buyers to visualize their full experience before purchasing and minimized the risk of paying for a subpar seat.
Augmented Reality in digital marketing:
Augmented reality (AR) is an emerging trend in marketing and sales strategies. It allows brands to give customers unique experiences with the convenience of tapping into their mobile devices. AR gives you another tool when it comes to driving sales and enhancing brand value through mobile devices.
Impact of augmented reality in digital marketing:
Out of the different types of Extended Reality, Augmented Reality is having the most significant impact on digital marketing. Virtual Reality is more prevalent in the gaming and entertainment industry since it fully immerses a user and requires hardware. It is less accessible to the general public. Though companies are still finding creative ways to use VR in marketing.
Augmented Reality, however, is highly accessible to the general public. Anyone with a capable smartphone or tablet (the majority of Apple and Android devices) can access an AR experience. The user simply points their device’s camera at an Augmented Reality QR code or trigger, and the experience automatically launches.
Benefits of Augmented Reality in digital marketing:
• Does not require hardware, like a headset
• Does not require special apps or software (Web AR)
• Can be accessed anywhere with a smartphone or tablet
• Interacts with the real world around a user
• Transforms any printed marketing into digital marketing
• Available for small business, as well as large
Digital marketing strategies are adopting Augmented Reality more and more. Augmented Reality analytics consistently show engagement rates in the 30-40% range, as well as substantially higher click-through rates, time-on-page, and increased sales.
Examples of Augmented Reality in digital marketing:
We can now look at some of the most successful augmented reality-enabled digital marketing campaigns. These digital marketing campaigns have not only made inroads in the new customer base but also have satisfied their customers with highly engaging content.
Pepsi:
In 2014, Pepsi launched an AR campaign in a London bus shelter in which it appeared as if UFOs, flying saucers, a lion, and other objects were going for the Londoners. Afterward, they posted this video on YouTube, which garnered over six million views on YouTube. This was considered one of YouTube’s most successful advertising campaigns. The enhanced user experience meant users shared the
content with their friends and families, and it helped Pepsi to improve its brand image.
US Postal Service:
Surprisingly, US postal service was one of the first postal service organizations to adopt augmented reality. They launched an augmented reality-based digital marketing campaign back in 2014-15. Once you scanned the collection boxes with your smartphone, a video started playing, which included holiday surprises such as Christmas lights, dancing penguins on your smartphones. This whole experience was a little brighter than usual for postal service customers.
BBVA:
BBVA’s Valora View App was one of the first housing-related AR apps. Many of us have tried to find the right property at the right price and failed to find it in our desired locality. This app tries to solve this problem by offering advice on housing properties and giving insights such as an ideal purchase or renting price for the property. These projections are achieved with the help of machine learning through simulation techniques. The AR feature gives you the experience of actually being there at the place. This campaign received a lot of positive reviews from the users and allowed BBVA to grow its customer base. BBVA has always been known for growing its digital customer base year on year. And digital marketing initiatives such as Valora View have ensured that they keep on doing the same.
Ikea:
Most of us have suffered from buying up the furniture and finding out that it does not fit into the house. Ikea Place provides you a platform through which you can visualize how the furniture would look like in your home. Ikea Place can solve this unique problem that many of us face and that’s why the initiative has helped them to grow their customer base significantly. IKEA Place is the second most popular free AR-based app on the Apple store.
Toyota AR app:
Toyota launched a Spanish AR mobile ad that helps smartphone users to see an interactive and immersive view of Toyota Corolla 2020. This ad is a clickable banner ad that opens to overlay a digital version of the car on the surroundings of the viewer through the mobile camera. The viewers don’t need to download a separate app, and it works well on the Android platforms as well. The company was even planning to introduce the IOS version of the app as per the last update.
Conclusion:
Augmented reality stands to be one of the driving forces behind sales and marketing innovations over the next decade. Using AR, forward-looking businesses will be able to upgrade the experience they offer their customers, leading to increased business opportunities and sales. Launching an AR-based advertisement is quite cheaper than the traditional mediums of advertising, and you can also create ads based on locations to improve segmentation, and expect many of the advertisers to go for augmented reality in one form or the other for their digital marketing campaigns soon.
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