Catching your attention: sometimes that’s all it takes for a brand to persuade you into buying their products.
The key to great advertising is grabbing your attention, but sometimes－attention just isn’t enough. To really persuade your customer into buying your product, you need to get them hooked, and it takes genius advertising to get someone hooked. Fortunately, there are more ways than one to grab customers on the hook. Augmented reality is one of those ways.
Augmented reality (AR) is an excellent way to promote ads. As a bait-and-hook technique, AR technology is a brilliant tool to integrate with advertisements. It’s fun, interactive, and brings advertising to a whole new level. There’s no other method of advertising that says a brand is “innovative” and “clever”. AR technology takes the cake.
Understanding augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that brings virtual objects into the real world－well, almost. Through computer-generated methods, virtual objects are augmented to seamlessly appear to be a part of reality, hence, “augmented reality”.
AR is not to be confused with virtual reality (VR). Virtual reality is the complete opposite of AR. With virtual reality, the user is transferred into a virtual world, hence, the term “virtual reality”. VR is popular with video games. In virtual reality, players are able to control the game through with the use of their own eyes and hands.
Advertising has greatly benefited from the features of AR. Augmented reality brings people into an immersive and enjoyable experience. This gives brands an opportunity to both catch the customer’s attention AND give them an enjoyable experience.
While traditional ad placements are still effective, augmented reality advertisements are becoming more common. With AR, you’re not only given the chance to build high-quality ads, but you’re also giving yourself a chance to engage with customers. Combining AR and personalised marketing will build a great combo of both catching customer attention and data.
Augmented reality is more than just a clever way to hook customers. It’s a brilliant way to gain brand recognition. It’s no wonder why more brands are starting to use augmented reality in their ads.
More than just advertising
Augmented reality isn’t exclusively used in advertising. In the commerce industry, AR is commonly used to give users an interactive feature to view products without opening them.
For example, Augment, an AR SaaS (software as a service) platform, offers retailers the option to give customers a personalised experience by implementing augmented reality in the brand’s product visualisation. Users will be able to select a product with their phone or tablet, and visualise the products using augmented reality. It’s a fun way to give customers a clear view of their products. It’s fun and immersive, two things a customer will always love.
AR is also greatly used for education. Imagine a classroom set-up with augmented reality as a secondary function for learning. This way, students are able to interact and engage in a real-time video and audio environment. It’s now possible to produce computer-generated historical events to give students an immersive learning experience. It’s an innovative strategy to plunge students deep into an accurate depiction of history.
Interactive learning is always fun, and there’s no doubt that augmented reality is one of the highly recommended tools for such pleasure.
Excellent examples of AR
AR has been commonly used by brands ever since mobile phones and tablets emerged in both practical and functional usage. Advertisers are now taking into note how AR could provide valuable uses to their ads.
There are many prominent ads with AR as their forefront. One ad from Pepsi Max is an excellent example of how augmented reality is the perfect sales catch. The brand’s “Unbelievable Bus Shelter” promo made great use of AR. Augmented reality technology was used in the bus shelter’s see-through glass, as bystanders waiting for the bus will suddenly see real-time 3D animations realism intact The campaign instantly gained recognition and has won several awards.
Another great example of putting AR technology to good use is an ad from Coca-Cola and WWF. The two major brands made an alliance together to build an AR-driven ad that allowed people to get in touch with virtual polar bears. The advertisement was showcased to raise awareness over climate change, specifically in the Arctic.
It’s amazing how augmented reality can mend the difference between reality and fiction. Our world is truly shaping to be a digital-focused environment. With augmented reality as a leading tool in advertising, there’s no doubt it will continue to innovate.
