Augmented Reality Marketing: 4 Proven Ideas for Your Brand

By:

Fiona Hutcheson

Fiona Hutcheson
Augmented Reality
 
XR
 

Augmented Reality Marketing: 4 Proven Ideas for Your Brand

Augmented reality marketing is fundamentally changing the way brands interact with their audiences. And for good reason. Augmented Reality, a technology that overlays digital objects onto the real world, can be used in a myriad of ways to engage consumers on a deeper level. From intuitive tools that help customers shop to interactive advertising formats that invite users to engage with brands, Augmented Reality marketing helps companies of all sizes serve their customers better.

Here are four ways brands and businesses are already using AR as part of their marketing strategy.

1. "Try Before You Buy" Shopper Tools

Selling products online can be tricky. Especially when the products being sold need to look perfect in shoppers' unique spaces. But with Augmented Reality, online retailers can help their customers visualize how everything - from couches to lamps to blenders - will look in their homes before they make a purchase. Perhaps the best-known example of this is Ikea's new AR application, Ikea Place. Released in September 2017, the app allows Ikea customers to preview around 3,200 true-to-scale Ikea products in AR. With the app, users can virtually place, move, rotate, and purchase those items with just a few taps. While the tool is undoubtedly an incredibly useful tool for Ikea shoppers, it was also a great way for the brand to position itself as innovative, forward-thinking company and gain a load of attention from the press.

At Subvrsive, we've developed a similar tool that has the added benefit of working without the need for a dedicated app. To learn more about this, or our other AR for retail solutions, contact us below.

2. Live Activations at Trade Shows and Events

Trade shows and events are a mainstay in the marketing toolkit. But, standing out from the competition in a sea of booths and exhibitions can be a challenge. And an expensive one at that.

Implementing Augmented Reality at live events is a great way for brands to delight their prospects without breaking the bank. With AR, exhibitors can demo countless products without running out of space, bring signage and displays to life with overlayed videos, and increase lead generation by folding lead capture into the AR demo process.

3. Advertising with AR Lenses and Filters

With interactive face filters and World Lenses, Snapchat has always been a heavy hitter in the AR space. In fact, according to the company, 70 million people a day play with Snapchat Lenses for an average of over 3 minutes, which translates to 500 years of play time each day. There's no question that AR lenses and filters are incredibly engaging, so it only makes sense that brands and agencies are jumping on this new advertising opportunity.

In 2016 for the Superbowl, Gatorade launched an animated filter on Snapchat that allowed users to dunk an AR cooler of Gatorade over people's videos. The filter received 160 million impressions - 45 million more than the number that tuned in for the game. That same year, Taco Bell launched a Cinco de Mayo lens which was viewed 224 million times in a single day. Results like this are a testament to the efficacy of AR ads. Users not only actively engage with them, they seek them out and send them to their friends.

Here's a quick look at a few of the custom Snapchat lenses our team has created:

4. Interactive Product Packaging

One of the main ways brands market their products is by designing product packaging that cuts through the clutter. And bringing packaging to life through Augmented Reality is the latest way brands are doing just that. Opening the doors to limitless creative possibilities, AR packaging allows brands to overlay AR videos, games, coupons, and more directly onto physical packaging, creating a lasting impression that stays with shoppers long after they've left the store aisle.

Augmented Reality is opening up countless new ways for marketers to engage with their audiences in new and exciting ways. If you're interested in learning more about any of the above possibilities, or if you'd like to discuss a custom project, get in touch below.