AR (Augmented Reality) has significantly developed over the years and can often be confused with VR (virtual reality). AR is adding digital features to your physical surroundings, a great example of this is the ever-popular game, PokemonGo where you can see a Pokémon within your surroundings on your smartphone. VR is essentially immersing yourself into a digital world with no connections to the real world (you’ve probably seen the VR headsets).
AR is becoming increasingly popular as it gives the audience an opportunity to interact with a program with a purpose to inform or raise awareness. This helps to add impact to brand awareness and encourage user participation.
AR has been used worldwide by a variety of brands for campaigns. Let’s dive into the world of AR and discover some memorable top 10 AR campaigns…
IKEA home design
Walking around the maze that is IKEA doesn’t always inspire you to create the best look for your home. To help transform vision into reality, IKEA have developed an AR smartphone app, in which users can swipe through a variety of products and virtually place them wherever they like within their home. This helps to make the right decision on items to purchase for certain rooms, helping eliminate guess work when it comes to fixtures and fittings.
Yorkshire Tea – ‘Yorkshire Tree’ campaign
Appearing as full-page ads in British magazines, this AR campaign was delivered with the purpose of giving users the experience to understand Yorkshire Tea heritage and values and environmental sustainability. Using touch controls, users were able to actively engage with Yorkshire Tea’s tree growing campaign by playing mini games and collecting virtual vegetables along the way. This was a great way to share more information about the company and also spread the word on environmental issues.
Sephora – Virtual Artist App
It can be tough to buy makeup online. It’s a guessing game of what foundation shade is right for you or if a certain lipstick will suit you. The major US cosmetic chain, Sephora, picked up on this and created a Virtual Artist App with Modiface, in which users can select products and, using their phone camera, see what the makeup would look like on them. This app offers product guidance to users whilst appealing to its tech savvy customers. Offering the ability to virtually test a wide range of products increases the likelihood of a sales purchase.
Felix Pet Food – Felix up to mischief
Felix the cat has been a memorable furry face for years and this is something the pet food brand decided to play on within the form of AR. The ‘Up to Mischief’ campaign launched in London’s Waterloo Station with a 3D Felix the cat projection displayed on a 40m screen. Passersby could watch the AR cat interact with other commuters and as a result of this interactive campaign, they saw engagement increase by 18% and over 7% of shoppers considered buying Felix pet food.
Nicorette – augmented reality
The Nicotine Replacement Therapy brand teamed up with a slacklining instructor called David, an individual that smoked heavily himself but managed to quit his habit in 2016. The campaign named “Augmented Reality – Nicorette” was implemented at the Kings Cross station in London. The concept of the campaign was to give users the thrill of slacklining like David does. The overall idea of this campaign as to get smokers thinking ‘What enjoyment and life experiences could I take part in if I quit smoking?’
Coca Cola and WWF – arctic home
Coca Cola teamed up with WWF to create a 3-month AR campaign in the London Science Museum. Visitors were able to get up close and personal to a virtual family of polar bears through a big screen. By creating this emotional connection, it boosted awareness and raise funds for the conservation of the Artic.
New Look – campaign for students
The popular fast fashion brand, New Look, set up a fun AR campaign for students alongside their student card. It allowed users to mix and match their products to create their own signature look, along with granting access to additional content and special offers. This interactive and fun campaign led to a whopping 10k+ interactions per month and an average of 7 minutes engagement time, which led to a massive boost in brand awareness within their target audience.
Disney – AR colouring book
Disney designed an AR colouring book within their app as a digital twist to traditional colouring books. It also offered users the ability to see 3D drawings and models of their creations. The purpose of the creation was to inspire children to get in touch with their artistic side whilst familiarising themselves with Disney characters.
Brioche Pasquier – augmented reality
Pasquier created an AR campaign in 2017 to promote healthy living. It worked by inviting commuters in London Kings Cross Station to get moving with a Brioche Pasquier Bread that comes to life and acts as an exercise instructor. The point was to get people to be more active in a quirky way and understand the benefits of exercise.
Stranger Things – AR lenses
The hit TV show that is on everyone’s lips. Stranger Things teamed up with Snapchat to provide users with an AR 3D world lens which gave users the opportunity to explore a portal into Joyce Byers living room. You can then tap various features and find surprises. If you have an eagle eye, you can even find your way to the Upside Down! This was a great way to get users interacting whilst promoting the new series of Stranger Things.
With AR already having such a huge effect on marketing strategies, the opportunities for Augmented Reality campaigns are endless for the future. If you are a company interested in creating a marketing campaign that will help you stand out why not consider AR?
