AR blurs the lines between digital and reality. Acting as a digital layer, AR transforms our real-life surroundings into an immersive digital experience simply by looking through a phone screen. Can you remember the Pokémon GO craze in 2016? Built on the foundations of augmented reality, the mobile gaming platform raked in over 133 million users at its peak.
On the back of Pokémon GO’s global success, it’s no surprise that AR has taken the marketing world by storm. From virtual fitting rooms to shareable Snapchat filters, brands including Gucci, Ray-Ban and even National Geographic are introducing AR into their campaign strategy.
“I’m excited about augmented reality because unlike virtual reality, which closes the world out, AR allows individuals to be present in the world but hopefully allows an improvement on what’s happening presently,” says Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc.
Thanks to AR’s ability to merge virtual reality and the real world, 67% of advertising agencies have now rated it as a number one factor in boosting brand engagement. In an era of online shopping and social platform domination, augmented reality continues to open up new opportunities for brands that want to stand out. AR marketing is still in its infancy and full of untapped potential.
We’ll jump into the future of an immersive mobile experience, and see what the future could hold for AR marketing.
An immersive future for mobile marketing
Mobile marketing is on the rise. Over half of all global traffic comes from mobile devices alone, with smartphone users becoming key targets for brand marketing in 2022.
From interactive web design to a push for social media-based strategies, a new smartphone generation now demands a stand-out, personalised experience from the brands they interact with. We’re talking about customisable filters, shareable social content and a user experience that’s completely seamless.
This is where AR solutions step into the mix. With the ability to engage, entertain and educate users, augmented reality is quickly defining what the future of immersive marketing could look like.
AR is a great engagement booster. In fact, experts at Shopify found that brands that encouraged interaction with 3D and AR content saw a 94% increase in product-related engagement and conversions.
1. The virtual fitting room
The ecommerce sector has grown by a third since 2020. In response, augmented shopping is rising in the retail industry as business leaders recognise the importance of presenting their audience with a personalised adventure. AR customises the shopping experience and increases engagement and interaction as users shop.
AR seamlessly blends digital layering with a user's surroundings, allowing shoppers to sample hundreds of potential purchases without stepping out the front door.
Thanks to the powers of AR, the birth of the virtual fitting room has taken the fashion industry by storm. As brands such as Timberland, Adidas and Superdry pioneer the way for virtual try-ons, customers have the freedom to try on any item in the database in a number of colours and styles.
Using Instagram’s new AR shopping feature, Ray-Ban aims to boost audience engagement by allowing users to try out their products virtually.
People can customise over 20 styles with frame shapes, sizes and colours, and then see the result on their faces in seconds.
The rise of virtual try-ons is boosting brand awareness and interaction, especially amongst a tech-savvy, social media demographic.
2. Super-shareable social filters
Content shareability is vital: the more people talk about your brand, the more likely you are to see spikes in user interaction. The key is to create easily shareable content that your demographic can talk about.
One way to create shareable content is to make use of Snapchat and Instagram’s AR filter features. Whether your brand opts for an animal face or a magic makeup lens, there are hundreds of AR-infused filters to pick from.
In fact, experts at Snapchat have reported that three-quarters of their users interact with their AR features up to 30 times a day. After launching the platform’s first shoppable campaign in 2020, giving users the chance to virtually try on Gucci shoes, the social app now has its very own shop now button. Giving the user the option to buy directly from an AR filter is a great way to streamline the journey to the checkout.
Snapchat’s AR filters are also playing a role in boosting campaign engagement and brand awareness, such as Taco Bell’s Cinco de Mayo campaign in 2020. In fact, Taco Bell’s Snapchat filter raked in 224 million views in under 24 hours!
Promoting its newest item on the menu, Cinco de Mayo, the fast food brand saw peaks in audience engagement as users shared taco-themed memes using the filter. As Snapchat users revelled in sending something silly to their friends, the brand was talked about and interacted with at a much higher rate than usual.
3. Enhancing engagement on the go
For a digital-first population, introducing little virtual enhancements into everyday life is a great way to encourage users to engage with their surroundings in an innovative way.
Following the footsteps of Pokémon GO, which opened the door to interaction with a virtual version of a real-time environment, brands are creating more AR-inspired adventures.
From Reebok’s interactive billboards to WWF’s AR-infused wildlife quest, introducing an on-the-go AR strategy keeps your users constantly interacting with your brand in creative ways. One fantastic example of this comes from National Geographic in their 125th-anniversary campaign.
National Geographic ran an AR-led campaign in the Rotterdam train station in 2013 to celebrate the anniversary of the National Geographic Society.
Allowing users to scan QR codes on their phones, the room quickly filled with dozens of safari animals galloping around the station in an immersive digital nature experience. Setting the tone for AR’s journey into mainstream marketing, the campaign was ahead of its time and visually fascinating.
The future of AR marketing
Stepping into the future, creativity is the key to success when approaching an AR-marketing strategy.
Whether you choose to tap into a safari-shaped adventure like National Geographic or build a virtual changing room that keeps your users coming back, the possibilities are limitless for an AR-infused branding strategy.
“Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the ‘device’ to fade away”, claims Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai.
As AR continues to blur the lines of actuality, the next era will see a push for marketing strategies that encourage the virtual to become a seamless part of reality. Improving immersivity, the marketing tactics of tomorrow will continue to transport users into a digitalised world with just the click of a button.
