How Can Augmented Reality Used for Brand Promotion?

Augmented Reality is the new visible technology in the market and most of the industries are using AR as a tool for their marketing need. According to Mashable, Augmented Reality is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory inputs such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.

Augmented Reality became more familiar to people with the launch of Pokémon Go and this game had helped to blur the lines between reality and the computer-generated world. It's a bestselling AR mobile game and its played by millions of people all over the world.

There are so many AR games development company in the market, but AR isn’t just about games. It goes far beyond gaming and entertainment. Now AR has come to advertising, and it’s going to change the way the digital advertising market functions.AR is helping to bridge the gap between consumers and online & offline retail commerce.

Firstly, know what is Augmented reality in a very short way-

Augmented Reality:

The AR technology is something which is enabling virtual objects like images, videos, animations, and GPS data into the real world with the help of mobile devices so that it can enhance user experience towards a particular object and audience can learn more about the desired object.

Use cases of Augmented Reality in Marketing:

We look at some of the best and innovative use cases of Augmented Reality in marketing-

1: Dulux AR:

With an AR powered app that can renovate and redecorate your home, Dulux addresses the issues of visualization that many customers face in home furnishing. By pointing the app towards the walls, the users can recolour the room in real-time. You can also choose colour schemes and take screenshots that you like and share them. You can see the nearest Dulux stores, browse through educational content and order paint testers online. Dulux is to be the first to provide an AR tool to customers in the paint industry.

2: IBM In-Store AR shopping app:

Another extremely good app of AR in retail, IBM utilized the fact that most consumers in a supermarket prefer to have more information while purchasing products.

IBM built an app by whom shoppers can browse through products in a store and use augmented reality to display product information such as nutritional value, incentives and even loyalty points. Through an AR, IBM’s app can also check the rank of products based on some criteria set by the user, such as low sugar and high ratings. When the user points the camera towards a shelf of grains, the app will identify the products that meet the standards and display rating to the user.

3: Topshop Kinect dressing rooms:

Its main aims to solve the problem trying of clothes, and now it’s easy to choose dresses by the virtual dressing room. Topshop built a kiosk that displays the image of the person using a built-in camera and overlays the selected dresses on their body. Also, the person can change dresses using simple gestures as waving in the air. Topshop’s instalment is one of the first live-activation uses of augmented reality, of recent.

Benefits of Augmented Reality Advertising

Interactive Experience

One way to connect people with brands is to shape a memorable experience. Advertising strategies and games that use AR have the ability to create such an experience by making the interaction personal to the consumer. The immediate and sensory-driven connection established between the brand and consumers through AR makes for an emotional interaction. When consumers can see relevant objects in the augmented version of their own world, they develop a deep connection with the brand that resonates even when they are not using the AR platform.

Another aspect of AR’s interactive power involves geo-targeting. This capability is made possible by GPS data that is gathered from smartphones and other mobile devices. For example, the Belgian beer maker released a mobile app called Le Bar. The app uses GPS location technology to help users find the nearest bars that are currently pouring the Belgian pilsner. Consumers simply hold up their smartphones and follow the directional arrows that pop up. In addition to creating an interactive, city-based user experience, Stella Artois is facilitating the purchase of their product by leading consumers straight to the source.

Innovative Brand Image

Using AR is an innovative way to place brand images in the user’s line of sight, and develop heightened brand recognition. This is especially effective for those companies that are the first in their industry to take advantage of AR, and the novel ways it can evoke both an emotional and visceral consumer response.

Starbucks, for example, launched their Starbucks Cup Magic app, which lets customers animate their red cup with holiday-themed characters. This brings the brand image to life, making it much more memorable for the user. Augmented reality and its content can quickly build a company’s brand, providing visibility and interaction in near unlimited variety.

Repeat Engagement

Another benefit of AR is its ability to establish repetitive engagement. In terms of gaming, users come back repeatedly to play, which exposes them to the brand over and over again. This repeat engagement provides companies with an extremely cost-effective advertising method. Sometimes, the strategy only requires the startup costs involved in creating the AR game or platform. Companies then continue to reap the benefits of repeated exposure. This digital, interactive strategy is much different than ‘traditional’ advertising. For example, consumers can quickly flip through magazine ads and forget them. And television ads, which can be pricey to produce and air, can only run a certain number of times based on the media buy.

The viral power of AR can be seen in Pokemon Go. This game became very popular, very quickly. It motivated players to locate hidden Pokemon characters in the real world. The physical settings were real, while the cartoon characters were digital, and could only be seen through a digital device. This is a prime example of the benefits of AR’s repeat engagement. Pokemon Go became an addictive game. It quickly gained a record-setting number of users who not only played individually but involved their friends as well.

As technology changes the way consumers find, engage with, and purchase products, companies need to find innovative ways to gain brand visibility. Augmented reality development provides a unique opportunity to connect with customers in ways that traditional print, radio, and televisions cannot. Brands that invest in interactive AR campaigns can quickly reach a large number of consumers, more robustly connect with prospective buyers, and more easily motivate users to interact with their brands on a repeated basis.