How to use AR in your marketing campaign
Augmented Reality (AR) allows businesses to craft unique experiences for consumers
What even is AR?
The real and digital world can become intertwined with the use of augmented reality. The two realms can meet through our phones. It’s becoming more commonplace in our everyday lives and how we interact with the world and use our phones.
Similar to VR (virtual reality), AR uses technology to layer computer generated images over the top of a real life environment.
This is often done by using your phone’s camera to view the AR world. However, there are plans in the future to make more wearable tech that can use AR such as a pair of glasses or even contact lenses.
Some say in the far future we may even have implants in our brains or bionic eyes that allow us to see AR graphics without the need of any wearable tech.
Remember (or still play) Pokemon Go? That’s an example of AR. People use their phone cameras to search the real world for digital beings.
Snapchat filters are another example of AR that’s used in many people’s everyday lives. You’ll also find the use of AR in interior decoration apps.
There are companies using this type of thing currently such as Ikea where you can see what an item of furniture looks like in your house. And L’oreal allows you to try makeup on before purchase.
Here’s me demonstrating augmented reality through some Snapchat filters. Notice how Ray-Ban has their logo on this sunglasses filter? This is an intuitive brand partnership and marketing strategy.
Enjoy.
How AR can be effective in marketing campaigns
There are several companies out there that allow you to create your own augmented reality.
Whether you want to create gifs to use on your Instagram stories or a virtual character that comes to life on your flyers, AR can be used in so many ways that the possibilities are endless.
AR allows you to take your marketing to the next level. Bring brochures to life, build brand awareness, improve efficiency for your customers, heighten engagement with your brand, and prove you’re a forward-thinking company.
Here are some ways we at Cross have used AR technology in the past:
- Branded Gifs on social media for our clients
- Gifs for the Niche Business Awards
- Videos layered on top of Niche Magazine pages
- Filters on social media
Pepsi created a fantastic marketing campaign using the technology too. Their bus shelter campaign allowed patient passengers to see through an AR window. It showed monsters, UFOs and tigers parading the very same street.
How to create your own AR
There are simple ways to create simple AR. You can use Photoshop to create gifs. Or, use specialised apps to allow your customers to scan an image that will be connected to a marker and play when scanned.
Some apps you can use to help bring your marketing to life:
There are also more complicated AR such as 3D animations that require more expertise and rendering software. However, with more and more innovation in this sector, we will soon see the creation of AR become easier and easier.
The future of AR
In the future, augmented reality will become increasingly common and accessible to everyone. It will introduce gaming to real-world environments like we saw with Pokemon Go.
We will see more try-before-you-buy applications of AR. Travel will also be affected as you could go from Paris to the pyramids of Giza all from the comfort of your own home.
The way we work may even be affected. We have seen the uptake of video calling but what if you could have a meeting in person from your own homes? There is a lot of innovative new ideas that AR will provide and it will become integrated into our lives in all kinds of unexpected and amazing ways.
Are you ready for AR technology?
