The Future of Marketing is here now!
Augmented Reality for Marketing
Starter Guide 2019
How to add Virtual Value to the Real World
Augmented Reality (AR) applications are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are
increasingly accessible via everyday mobile devices; there is a massive potential to enhance
communication between brands and their audiences.
This guide aims to give marketers the tools to understand, and a head start on how to use the
power of this next-generation communication tool to engage with audiences effectively.
Digital Pop-Ups Augmented Reality Experiences
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Basic Definitions
3. An Overview of the Market
4. How can Brands make the most of Augmented Reality?
5. Choosing AR for your Marketing Campaign
6. What makes a successful AR Experience
7. The Benefits of AR
8. The Cost
9. The Future
10. The Next Step
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1. Introduction
Though the term “augmented reality” (AR) has been used since 1990, the technology is only
now hitting its stride.
In 2016, the breakout success of Pokémon Go followed by Snapchat innovative ads and
filters; AR started to get the interest of consumers and brands alike. Now, marketers in a
variety of industries are experimenting with new applications of AR.
AR applications are increasingly accessible via everyday mobile devices and have the
potential to make people’s lives easier. Marketers are increasingly using AR to connect with
their audiences. There are enough tools, and the cost is relatively low, making it very easy to
implement AR in their marketing efforts.
The aim of this guide is to demystify AR and help marketers to create value with AR even more
engaging and personal experiences.
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2. The Basic Definitions
What is the difference between Augmented, Virtual Reality and others?
Although this guide focuses on Augmented Reality, you have probably heard or Virtual
Reality (VR) and others like Mixed Reality (MR) or lately Extended Reality (XR).
Before we discuss the potential of AR for marketing, we must outline the definitions and the
spectrum of these technologies.
Virtual Reality (VR) - It is a fully immersive experience where you can experience 360-degree
virtual environments, usually wearing a head-mounted display. A good VR experience allows
users to control and influence what happens.
Augmented Reality (AR) - It superimposes digital content onto the real world via a mobile
device. Content such as graphics, videos, photos, 3D objects, animations, characters and any
other digital element.
Mixed Reality (MR) - Mixed reality is the next generation of AR and VR. You need a headset,
and the physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. By that we mean, the
digital content can be affected by things that are happening in the real world.
Extended Reality (XR) - It encompasses everything, 360-degree videos, augmented, virtual
and mixed realities, and it will include any other realities that come to exist in the future.
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3. An Overview of the Market
The augmented reality and virtual reality industry was valued at $14.1 billion in 2017 according to
Statista. The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the AR/VR industry is expected to be in the
range of 40%-80%. Another general trend is that AR is going to be way bigger than VR, with most
predictions using an approximate ratio of 4:1 (AR:VR). Predictions have a huge range from $34 billion
all the way up to $547 billion.
Many predictions indicate that this market is growing at a fast pace.
According to eMarketer, in 2019, we expect 68.7 million people in the US will use AR on any device
(including smartphones, tablets, desktops/laptops, head-up displays, glasses and headsets) at least
once per month. By 2021, this number will rise to 85.0 million. The CAGR for the forecast period from
2017 to 2021 will be 22.6%.
BusinessWire reports that AR is expected to be worth $60 billion by 2023.
Grand View Research p
redicts that the AR market is expected to be worth $100 billion by 2024
Research and Markets predict that the AR/VR market will generate revenues of $55 billion by 2021
Statista.com predicts that the AR/VR industry will be valued at $209 billion by 2022.
Consultancy.uk predicts that the combined AR/VR market size will be $178 billion by 2022.
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4. How can Brands make the most of AR?
Most of AR experiences fall into one of two main categories: Marker-based and markerless.
The marker-based category involves pointing a device’s camera at a specially encoded image or
printed code to trigger some more of AR functionality.
Markerless AR, sometimes known as location-based AR, is more sophisticated and it requires a higher
quality camera and often uses GPS, gyroscope and others and allows users to place virtual objects
onto fixed points in space.
At Digital Pop-Ups, we use the Zappar app, which can do a mix of both. You scan the zappar code, and
you have several options when triggering content on your mobile screen. By using the world tracking
feature, the user has the ability to place content directly in their real world (for example: putting
furniture in a room) or entering a 360-degree space and other features like face tracking and others.
Several types of device can be used to access AR. Each comes with its own benefits and challenges:
Smartphones, tablets and handheld devices: Currently, most AR is consumed via smartphone and
tablet apps. Mobile AR experiences can be created with many software development kits (SDKs) and
application programming interfaces (APIs). As users will be holding their mobile devices and looking
through the camera, it is vital to plan the amount of time the experience lasts.
Head-mounted displays (HMDs) and glasses: These wearable devices—such as Snapchat Spectacles
camera sunglasses, Glass Enterprise Edition (formerly Google Glass), Microsoft HoloLens, Magic Leap
One and others, most are expensive, clunky or unusual looking. However, experts believe AR
consumption will gradually shift from mobile to wearables, possibly even someday replacing
smartphones.
Head-up displays: These transparent displays augment users’ real-world views with useful data
about what’s in front of them. They enable users to keep their heads up and focused forward rather
than looking down and refocusing on instruments. Originally developed for military aircraft, head-up
displays are also used in commercial aircraft, automobiles and a variety of enterprise applications.
They are available to consumers, primarily for navigation, but are not yet widespread.
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5. Choosing AR for your Marketing
Campaign.
AR is truly versatile. But with so many things coming together in a mix of games, platforms, apps and
content creation tools , it is not surprising that it can be so confusing to understand how it all fits
together. The key is: keep it simple!
It is not about the tech, it is about what you do with it to deliver rich content to the right audience in
the right context at the right time. The ability to bring digital content to the real world gives a great
opportunity to marketers to enhance communication, to attract and fully engage with their target
audience either at a much deeper level. Like any other marketing campaign it is best to have a
strategy. However, according to research by Snap Inc only 10 % of US senior marketing executives
had already integrated AR into their marketing efforts and another 45% were experimenting whist
35% had future plans to use it. So, experimentation and exploration of how to use this amazing
technology in different ways is a great way to get started. It is low cost and low risk.
Choosing the right AR marketing campaign for your business will depend on your audience profile and
your industry.
According to eMarketer, in 2017, AR experiences that interest the most users worldwide were:
Learn more about a place they are visiting 67%
Learn new skills or techniques 67%
Visualise how clothes might fit 61%
View 3D Manuals 58%
Shop for household items and furniture 54%
Play games 47%
Source: Accenture, "2018 Accenture Digital Consumer Survey" conducted by Harris Interactive as cited in "Time to Navigate the
Super Myway: Giving Consumers Exactly What They're Looking For," Jan 8, 2018
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The following is a sampling of common types of AR experiences currently being created:
Lenses, filters and camera effects: These are the most common features in apps like Snapchat and
Facebook. The AR experience let users personalise selfies, photos and videos of real-world objects and
scenes by overlaying creative graphics.
Informational Content Overlay: It involves layering educational or promotional content over
real-world views of products or scenes. Content can be anything from video to photos, graphics,
animations. Basically, any content can come to life.
Product Visualisation: These applications include overlaying information in a “try before you buy”
format. It allows users to interact with a virtual product and see how they will look before purchasing
them. They include measuring things, moving and placing objects in real-world environments
facilitating purchases. It can also be used to help break down and explain complicated ideas or
concepts by overlaying 3D models.
Product introduction. This involves creating an AR version of a product before its official
introduction, building excitement and anticipation. In some cases, it can be used to test designs
before they go to production.
AR portals. Entertainment brands are keen on these AR “doorways” that let users step into
360-degree views and videos of experiences.
AR tours. These overlays help guide a tour of a product, event or location with interactive ways to
offer additional details. They include touring of home space, inside a car the inside of a vehicle, or
using an animated character that takes you in a journey.
AR translation. It has been used to explore more ways to use a device’s camera and/or microphone to
capture and translate text on printed materials, photos, videos or speech in the real world. Google’s
Word Lens, which works with more than 30 different languages, uses a smartphone’s camera to
translate menus, signs and other printed items in real-time.
Augmented live experiences. AR can be used to enhance many types of real-life experience. For
example, in a live show viewers can hold their phone’s camera up to a screen when prompted and
access additional content and features.
Shoppable AR. This involves giving users direct-response channels to purchase, view or download
within AR experiences. Users can, for example, try virtually different glasses and once they decide to
purchase, with a “Shop Now” button it links to shoppable web pages.
Gamified content. This type of content prompts users to engage by competing, playing games or
completing challenges using AR features.
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6. What makes a successful AR Experience
Although AR is fun and entertaining, it is essential to shift from novelty to utility to more long-term
potential and higher value.
Users still need a compelling reason to download an app, open it and point it at something. If the
experience is not worth the effort, you will lose your user for good. This can do more harm than good.
So it is vital to have a strategy or work with a professional to create a successful AR campaign. There
are three key elements that you need to take into account. We call them the 3C’s:
Context : You must of course understand your audience and take into consideration where your
experience is likely to be triggered, if there is good internet connection, if it is the right occasion and
the right time, take into account noise levels and if user will have hands free to use their devices to
engage with your experience successfully.
Content: The content is critical, it has to be something that adds value to the user and couldn’t have
received more easily by just going to YouTube or webpage. Of course, you can add links to a webpage,
but the primary experience has to be something that delivers value in interactive ways and enhance
the user’s experience.
Call to Action: Why would someone scan a code in the first place? Users need a clear and compelling
reason to use their devices and engage with your content. Think about what the incentive is and what
you would like them to do.
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7. The Benefits of AR
Portable: With an estimated figure of 5 billion mobile users in the world in 2019, consumers are
warming to AR on their smartphones. Today they look at them as ask what more can they can do with
it. AR enables content to be put directly into the hands of consumers driving interest, awareness and
sales.
Engaging: AR is an excellent opportunity for brands authentically connect with their audiences by
offering them pleasant and memorable moments. It can also give brands insight into how their
consumers interact with the brand, what they love about it and else they would like in the future.
Enhanced Communication: The AR’s ability to deliver unique and exciting content sets it apart from
other traditional forms of marketing. The appeal of something different – like AR – generates higher
interest and awareness within the desired target market.
Creative: It’s highly immersive; it is also experimental. This is not about adding an existing campaign
in AR format but is about the end-result and creatively work backwards exploring new ways a user can
experience it.
ROI: AR remains very affordable, compared to other traditional marketing efforts. The use of this
technology also enables user behaviour to be tracked, documenting what information they accessed,
how long they obtained it for, conversion rates, sales, and a whole host of other metrics – depending
on how you refine your AR campaign.
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8. The Cost
The cost of an AR experience can vary between hundreds to tens of thousands based on several
factors like: what type of creative solution you would like to deliver, what assets you have already
available and what needs to be produced, what type of assets (3D models and animations, 360 videos,
photos and so on), how the experience is activated, localisation support, the scale of usage and so on.
So there are many factors an AR agency needs to take into account. However, your AR agency will be
able to ask the right questions and give you a quote based on your project needs.
9. The Future
WEARABLE AR : While some AR glasses and Head Mount Displays (HMDs) are gaining traction in
business settings, consumer adoption has been slow. Over the next several years, experts believe that
AR experiences will move from mobile to wearable devices once significant technical challenges can
be overcome like battery life and network connectivity.
It is expected that in five years, to have AR experiences beyond our phones and tablets will be
common and some predict that we will be wearing head-up displays in our cars and tiny glasses
headsets. So we need to be thinking about using this technology in the enterprise space and how to
offer users personalised content, the right amount, at the right place and at the right time.
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10. The Next Step
This guide has provided a concise overview of the market, why the market is ready for AR, and why it is
the right time for marketers to make their move before everybody else. The time is now!
If you would now like to find out more, or you are keen to find out how to implement AR in your
marketing campaigns, we can help you. At Digital Pop-Ups we have different options to help you to
get started:
AR Seminar and Workshop: If you would like to explore more or get your marketing team
thinking about AR, this is the perfect way to start. This is a half day session where we go in more depth
about AR and help you and your team to understand augmented reality, how it has been used so far,
how users experience AR and how to plan a successful AR campaign.
By the end of this session, you and your team will have the tools to strategically to plan, execute and
measure an AR. No technical skills required.
AR Consultancy : If you are already familiar with AR; you are excited to plan and launch your first
AR project, then we offer consultancy. This comprises a two-session consultation with your company.
In the first session, we work with you to understand what you are aiming to achieve with AR. Using this
information, we then provide with an AR Strategy Report. This unique document, tailored to your
business and sector, offers you the strategic planning advice to make AR work as a key player in your
marketing strategy. It also includes an AR experience proposal. In the second consultation session, the
proposal is discussed and refined, and at this point, the decision to proceed with your first AR project
is now yours to make. If you go ahead with the project with us we will deduct the consultancy fees
from the total cost of the project.
AR Products and Production: If you would like to start with a smaller project, we also offer
AR experiences like AR business cards, AR brochures, postcards that come to life; we can design,
create and produce bespoke experiences. Please note that for more strategic use of AR as part of your
marketing campaign you will need the AR Consultancy first.
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11. How to Contact Us
To enquiry about any of our services:
Please visit our website
digitalpopups.com
Email us on
enquiry@digitalpopups.com
Contact for via out contact form at
https://digitalpopups.com/contact/
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