MARKETERS TO LEVERAGE AUGMENTED REALITY
Following the success of Pokémon go, marketers are looking to leverage augmented reality to regain ownership of customer experience
Pokémon go has taken the world by storm, pulling augmented reality (AR) out of the confines of science fiction into its future home — our physical world. And although AR has been on the marketers’ radar since 2012, it is only now — with the contagious spread and success of the location-based AR game — that the technology has gone truly mainstream.
Having used it sparingly in the past, marketers are opening up to the immense opportunities that AR has to offer for delivering an immersive experience to consumers by integrating digital reality into the real world.
Pokémon Go mania has ensured AR has a lot going for it — from immersive storytelling to shopper marketing, AR will now drive conversation with brands where it matters, as against pure engagement which has merely been relegated to jargon now, says Arnav Ghosh, managing director, Blippar India.
AR really allows brands to own the “moment of truth” (when consumers are in front of the product). “This allows brands to build the value of AR into the funnel and when a brand opens up its existing physical touchpoints, the consumer is able to engage, extract purpose and consume content directly from the very first frontier — thereby arguably increasing the redundancy of targeting audiences via platforms, where they may or may not even detect brand offerings to begin with,” adds Ghosh.
In a nutshell, AR enables exciting customer experience, interaction and brand awareness. “Importantly, AR allows brands to regain ownership of the customer experience through the use of branded apps,” says Sanjeev Vohra, global managing director, digital, Accenture Technology.
Though few and far in between, brands globally as well as back home have been experimenting with AR. For example, in 2011, Lynx Deo (Axe in India) carried out an AR activity at London Victoria station. A giant screen planted at the station had an angel falling next to a man passing by the hoarding. This carried forward the brand’s TV commercial which showcases angels getting attracted to men who use Lynx Deo. In other words, the idea added the charm for a common man to be that “man” who is able to make angels fall for him in the TVC.
Closer home, automobile maker Mahindra caught the attention of both consumers and marketers by launching XUV500 at Auto Expo 2012 supported by an AR campaign. The launch saw Anand Mahindra, managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra, petting a virtual cheetah perched on the sleek vehicle. Visitors at the expo got to interact with a virtual cheetah. Also, a big screen over the XUV showed a cheetah walking in and standing next to the visitor. When the image was captured, it showed the visitor, the car and the cheetah with a watermark on the image saying “Me with the cheetah”.
AR helps build a rapport with the target audience in the open as it is more theatrical and experiential; thus the involvement factor is huge. It simply enhances or amplifies the brand presence, says Vipin Dhyani, founder, Thoughtshop Advertising & Films Productions.
A number of Indian consumer product group companies, banks, retailers and hospitality firms are taking the lead in adopting AR early through image recognition and geolocation. Further, companies are experimenting with immersive AR by leveraging 2D and 3D. For example, Accenture Digital has designed and built a prototype for an immersive car sales application for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, allowing customers to view and interact with a full-scale virtual version of the car they are planning to buy.
Luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz too is leveraging AR to offer buyers an enhanced customer service experience. Through its AR-powered Mercedes- Benz Rescue Assist App, the car maker provides support for emergency services at the scene of an accident by giving quick access to the rescue cards for its vehicles via a smartphone or tablet. The latest update supplies 3D views as well as AR imagery.
According to Roland Folger, MD, Mercedes-Benz India, “AR images bring further benefits: All the components of the vehicle are rendered in precise, photorealistic detail in images that, to a wide extent, reflect what can be seen of the actual damaged vehicle — a great advantage for the rescue services at the scene of the accident.”
AR has huge potential in home furnishing and interior industry, too. Hemant Singh, co-founder, Houssup, is confident that over the next two to three years, AR would disrupt furniture and décor segments. As these products are judged hugely on “how they will look in my space”, everyone would like to first see the product in their own space and if it looks satisfactory go for instant purchase through the application.
For example, with a special focus on AR, Houssup has developed a prototype where one can see the furniture of the room in real space through their mobile-tablet screen. The company is running a campaign, “Feature Friday”, on its blog where it reviews the ambience and interiors of various cafés. The company will be soon introducing AR in its app to help consumers discover the cafés. Whenever a user is near the café reviewed by Houssup they will be able to see the offerings and ratings of the café in AR mode.
Similarly, real estate marketers, sales teams and property managers can use AR technology to demo a building’s features and provide tours of building spaces, facilitating a more experiential pull for would-be buyers and tenants. Keyur Bhalavat, business head, Scapesworks, says the use of AR would help save the discerning buyers and tenants from repetitive site visits by providing them a very enriching experience on smart devices. It can also help developers connect and engage with buyers who are physically present in a different location and country, thus expanding the prospective market size.
Vohra of Accenture Technology observes that the actual applicability of AR services from an industry-enterprise standpoint is now emerging as the commercial application has become realistic with the adoption of mobile and internet on smartphones.
AR as a tool can help brands get noticed instantly and effectively by gripping and engaging the audience, provided it is done well.
Sumanta Ganguly, executive vice-president, LinTeractive, says that marketers need to be wary of using an existing communication device and mounting a campaign on top of it. Because this is not AR. “Instead, they need to create an engrossing experience for a customer, adding functional value to her life.” Creating a purely AR-led campaign can be a resource-intensive experience depending on the level of engagement the brand is eyeing. So, brands need to invest in a genuine idea and visualise a consumer experience in order to come up with a top-class AR experience.
For Asymmetrique’s creative director, Hrishikesh, the real challenge while dabbling in AR lies in overcoming the design challenge of connecting and linking an AR platform to different devices. That is, consumers while engaged with such a platform should be able to seamlessly switch from one form factor to another ensuring they do not face a fragmented experience or information overload.
Most importantly, to provide an immersive experience to customers, combining the live experience with AR and virtual reality requires premium quality video delivery powered by fast and reliable connectivity, points out Julie Woods-Moss, chief marketing officer and CEO of NextGen business, Tata Communications. Therefore, one needs to have fast, robust and intelligent networks providing greater quality, consistency and low latency for consumers to have a seamless and rich AR experience.
Augmented reality can help brands get noticed instantly by engaging the audience, provided it is done well