The first AR application used as marketing campaign was in 2008 when BMW designed their first AR advertisement for a Mini model.
The advertisement consisted of a printed magazine which created a digital 3D model of the Mini model when it was held in front of a computer’s camera.
The user was able to control the perspective of the car by tilting and rotating the magazin.
Only 10 years later 272 AR applications could be found in the Android app store tagged with “Shopping”.
That 49.4% of 60 668 german user of the internet are interested in AR technologies in combintion with furnishings was the reslut of a survey in 2013.
Also in 2018 52.2% of 1 008 asked person at the age of 18 – 69 years could imagine to install one to five apps for digital support with AR while shopping. A extraordinary high interest was noticed for information about products (77.8%) and special offers (64.8%).
Why can AR improve the shopping experience?
With AR the shopping experience gets
• more effective
• richer
• more entertaining
• more informative
So the shopping experience gets influenced in a positive way. This leads to more mouth to mouth propaganda, a better recognition of the product and also increase purchase intent.
On the other hand the customer can feel unsave with is privacy because of using a digital app.
While for many people Augmented Reality is still a pretty new thing, companies which are working with AR, no metter in which field, will be defined as modern an progressive business. As long as it is not standard to use such new technology for advertisement or marketing in general, the recognision is very high and the connection to the brand deep emotional. The number of mobile AR users is predicted to reach 200 million within 2021. So we will surely be in contact with much more AR interactions.
Examples of more AR ads
Burger King
The campagne “After all, flamed grilled is always better” (2019) of Burger King was about burning down the ads of competition in Brazil. The user could scan and ad of the competition with the app and burn the ad virtual down. The best of the campagne: it is not only fun for the user but they also get one free whopper by using the burning feature.
Adidas – more virtual sneakers
In 2018 Adidas created an AR lenese the allow customers to preview its new Ultraboost 19 sneakers. With using the Snapchat app, the user was able to unbox and learn more about the shoes by tap on the Adidas logo.
Sources
The Mainstreaming of Augmented Reality: A Brief History
Mini Augmented Reality Ads Hit Newstands
FACEBOOK: GLOBALER ROLLOUT VON AUGMENTED REALITY ADS
Augmented Reality (AR) Ads
16 Cool Augmented Reality Advertising Campaigns
14 examples of augmented reality brand experiences
