Augmented Reality is the New Reality
The power of AR has met the power of marketing and together they might just be unstoppable…

Unless you have been living under a rock you have heard of VR, AI, and AR. While all three of these technologies are changing daily lives there is one in particular that has consumers and marketers alike extremely excited.

Augmented Reality refers to “a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view.” While the technology has been in the making since the early 1990’s it gained much of its general industry popularity in the last 10 years.

Throughout the last decade, marketers have started to realize how powerful this technology truly is in influencing consumers. After Blippar developed the first AR game for Google Glasses, in 2014, many brands started to realize the unique advertising opportunities that awaited them. One of the first brands to successfully take advantage of AR technology in advertising was Pepsi.

Pepsi’s AR Bus Stop Ads in London

“In 2014, Pepsi installed AR technology in a London bus shelter, making it appear as if a lion, UFOs, flying saucers, and other objects were headed straight for Londoners.” Through their ads, Pepsi conveyed their fun and quirky personality to consumers. They gave consumers exactly what they wanted, a unique and sharable experience as opposed to just another ad. As Godin has said, companies need to “stop advertising and start innovating…[It’s time that they] sell feelings, status, and connection, not tasks or stuff.”

This Pepsi campaign was extremely successful, so much so that it became one of YouTube’s most-watched advertising campaigns of all time. The reason for this success and the reason that it increased brand loyalty and ultimately revenue was because Pepsi understood one crucial point that many markets at the time were missing. Pepsi internalized, as Godin says, that “people don’t want what you make. They want the way it will make them feel.” Pepsi understood that “the only way to be indispensable [in the lives of their consumers was] to be different.” They believed that “[their] job [wasn’t] to catch up to the status quo [but rather] to invent the status quo.”

As we can see from this campaign and the many others that have been developed since AR offers exciting new opportunities for marketers and consumers alike. This technology has given brands an opportunity to provide their customers with something they view as invaluable, experiences. If a brand successfully executes an AR marketing campaign, they could foster deep relationships with their customers that will in turn be invaluable to the brands.

Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below!

Best,

Rachel
['Rachel Green']
['Augmented Reality', 'Seth Godin', 'AR', 'Marketing', 'Pepsi']