Tech moves fast in advertising, and it can be challenging to make sure you’re up to speed on the innovations that could make a big difference in your campaigns. Once just an author’s idea, augmented reality has blossomed into a powerful advertising technology, one that’s bringing brands closer than ever to their audiences. From what it is to how it is used, this article provides a complete rundown on augmented reality advertising.
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What Is Augmented Reality Advertising?
Augmented reality advertising allows brands to powerfully engage with their audiences using sophisticated visualization technology to produce and run interactive ad campaigns. AR ad creative comes in numerous forms, from virtual try-ons to interactive gaming experiences. Research has shown that AR advertising is significantly more effective than traditional ad creative. Camera IQ has discovered that AR campaigns can produce 34 times the follower reach, 30 times the engagement rate, and 3.4 times the conversion rate of photo and video advertising.
3 Ways Advertisers Can Use Augmented Reality
To Stand Out
The core purpose of advertising is to help brands stand out from the competition and get noticed — a difficult thing to do if you’re relying the same tactics and creative approaches as everyone else. AR advertising allows brands to get beyond the photo and video game and engage with their consumers in a completely new way. As powerful as it is, this interactive form of ad creative has still yet to be adopted by many. This means that advertisers who embrace this format now can get the added benefit of the Purple Cow effect.
To Create a New Level of Personalization
While personalization in marketing and advertising has primarily focused on leveraging data to tailor ad creative, AR opens the door to an entirely new and powerful form of personalization. Instead of looking at consumers as passive viewers of creative, AR advertising puts the audience in the center of the action. Through try-ons, quizzes, games, and more, AR experiences enable consumers to truly interact with the brands they love, allowing them to contribute to that brand in their unique way.
To Forge an Emotional Connection
Effective narratives allow consumers to picture themselves as part of the story, but AR literally allows consumers to put themselves into the story. AR gives viewers the power to shape the experience to their liking, something traditional creative can’t do. This interactivity is what makes AR advertising so compelling to consumers: They get to see themselves within the experience the brand creates. This breaks down the distance between audiences and ad creative, imbuing that engagement with unique emotional power.
3 Examples of Augmented Reality Advertising Campaigns
How IKEA Won Christmas with AR advertising
IKEA is no stranger to augmented reality. Back in 2017, the Swedish furniture retailer introduced its Place app: a mobile AR tool that allowed customers to test the look of a new piece of furniture in their home. Its success inspired IKEA to continue to invest in the tool, rolling out new features — like the ability to design full rooms — over subsequent years. The company has also deployed the tech in its advertising campaigns, using AR to promote their Christmas trees the same year they launched IKEA Place.
As part of their Christmas campaign, they developed an AR experience to enable shoppers to see how their Christmas trees complemented their house. Consumers could use their smartphone camera to view the room, drag and drop the tree into the perfect location, and try out different kinds of trees.
How EA Blew Up Madden NFL with AR advertising
To support the launch of Madden NFL 21 — the latest entry in the wildly successful sports game franchise — EA used augmented reality advertising. The gaming company knew Madden had a passionate fan base, so they wanted to use AR to make their audience feel like they were part of the game itself. They developed an AR experience that would give each fan a “Madden Rating,” including sub ratings for speed, strength, and smarts.
The campaign was embraced by their fans — and even some NFL pros. The AR experience was viewed over five million times on Instagram, had a shared rate of 9.4%, and achieved 70% lower cost per view (CPV) than the internal benchmark. EA was so impressed by the power of this AR advertising campaign that it used the same approach to promote several other gaming franchises, including UFC 21 and NHL 21.
How LoveSeen Crushed Their Brand Launch with AR advertising
D2C beauty brand LoveSeen leaned on augmented reality advertising to help successfully launch their brand in the middle of the pandemic. LoveSeen wanted their launch campaign to give their customers a sense of what they’d look like with the brand’s artificial lashes – while keeping their audience safe. Knowing that AR experiences could deliver on both of these requirements, they created a custom virtual try-on experience using Camera IQ’s creative platform.
The campaign was a huge success, achieving a 90% engagement rate, increasing their social following by 30 times, and producing 150K views within weeks of the launch. And the results didn’t stop at those KPIs. As the head marketing for LoveSeen, Rory Clark, noted: “The fact that the most viewed virtual try-on experience is currently our top-seller illustrates the power of time spent with our brand through AR translating into conversion.”
Finding an AR Advertising Partner
Augmented reality is redefining how brands engage with their audiences. With AR advertising, consumers take an active role in the advertising campaign and become part of the brand in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.
AR advertising isn’t just for the biggest companies. Camera IQ has built an accessible, affordable, no-code AR creative platform that empowers any brand to design custom AR experiences and run their own campaigns. For advertisers and marketers looking to tap into the power of AR, we’re the perfect partner.