Augmented reality: powerful person-centric marketing

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Augmented reality: powerful person-centric marketing

What is augmented reality?

In my talk you’ll get a clear definition of what augmented reality is and how it is changing marketing. You could read a lot of long-winded definitions but simply put augmented reality, or AR, places digital images into the real world.

Augmented reality is a superpower for brands

AR has predominantly been used in games but there are so many opportunities for growing, inspired brands.

For ambitious marketers, AR is a new way of allowing your audience to experience your products. It’s an immersive technology that puts users at the centre of the campaign and helps develop strong affiliations through experiences. The digital images used in AR can substitute or compliment real life so there really are no limits to what it can be used for.

Putting people first with augmented reality

Ever wanted your audience to fully see, feel and experience your product? Ever feel frustrated with the limitations of the medium you use to speak to your audience? Using AR technology helps marketers find an increasingly cost-effect way to achieve this.

Using AR in marketing can:

  • Create meaningful, engaging branded experiences by digitally personalising your users’ reality.
  • Provide context and add value to your audience by using digital images to solve real world needs.
  • Give an immersive, person-centric experience by creating realities that wouldn’t be possible with any other technology.

When creating a marketing campaign, it is natural to consider your audience, but it’s surprisingly easy to market to people while knowing very little about them and their goals. AR is such a personal experience that it requires you to know your audience on a deeper level. But the rewards for this deep personalisation are that much better.

The benefits of using a person-centric experience for your brand

L’Oréal, who are known for their high-quality makeup, took advantage of AR to digitally recreate something that all their customers do; try on makeup. L’Oréal created an app that allowed users to try on different makeup styles and products on their phone, using the front-facing camera to overlay different makeup styles on the user’s face.

This was a brilliant way to bring something into the digital world, previously trying on makeup was a very real-world experience. On top of that, AR created something that was reliant on its customers and, most importantly, completely personal. By using AR to create this app L’Oréal:

  • Gave audiences a tailored and true experience of L’OrĂ©al
  • Created a valuable experience with the brand – you’re more likely to buy something you’ve tried, even virtually
  • Built genuine brand advocacy and trust – with over 3 million downloads and 2 million 5-star ratings on Android, people trusted and supported L’OrĂ©al’s work

And why does it work? Because people are at the centre of the process, they are key and integral in making the app work. L’Oréal knows who their audience are, what they want, what they engage with. From this, they knew that the trying on process was really important and took this chance to recreate it in an innovative way. L’Oréal know their audience brilliantly, if you ask me.

Taking advantage of the future of AR

According to Markets and Markets, the AR market was around $4.21 billion in 2017 and will rise to an impressive $60.55 billion by 2023. With that in mind, this is not the year for marketers to sit back and allow their competitors to steal the limelight with an innovative implementation of AR. With platforms like Snapchat’s Lens Studio and Facebook’s SparkAR Studio offering users the opportunity to augment their own reality, there is no excuse for brands not to be riding this wave too.