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How Augmented Reality Is Disrupting Digital Marketing Right Now

How Augmented Reality is shaking up the product packaging industry

Monday October 09, 2017,

6 min Read

Yesterday, I visited a supermarket to get some grocery. While picking the products, I saw an old couple was observing the people who were standing in front of the products and looking into their smartphone. They spent a few minutes to understand what’s going on there. Unfortunately, they failed to get it and were about to leave the place.

I stopped them and explained what the people were doing with their phones out there. I also taught them how they can access the additional information about the products through ar packaging that was not available in the printed label. They were simply amazed by the unique experience they had.

It’s the mojo of Augmented Reality (AR)! The disruptive technology is revolutionizing versatile industry domains by enabling brands with ultra-modern operational and marketing workflow. Let’s dive into how AR helps companies in an aggressive expansion of their business horizon.

How Augmented Reality Works for Packaging Domain?

Owing to increasing prices of raw material, shifting regulations, and expensive packaging processes, businesses have started adopting the futuristic technologies. Augmented reality is one of the leading technologies that allow brands to deliver exclusive experiences to the buyers through least investment.

For an example; customers come across a product and want to buy it. They couldn’t make a buying decision until they don’t know how the product looks like, how they would use it, and where to use it. Simply, they ignore the product and move on. Augmented reality packaging  permits users to access additional information about a product instantly so they can make an effective purchase.

Manufacturers can also take an advantage of custom designed AR glasses. It helps workers in tracking various processes, factors, and objects of the packaging unit. Moreover, augmented reality drives tremendous changes in the conventional processes of production, sales, and marketing departments.

Advantages to Produce Augmented Reality Products

Greater Lead Generation

Data collection and lead generation are the two fundamental processes that have to be followed for the success of a sales and marketing campaign. Conventional tactics such as integration of offline campaigns with online forms, QR codes, online business directories, etc. cannot help the brands in collecting the data of genuine customers. Try something different!

Invite the customers to interact with your AR based mobile app and provide them an exciting user experience. Track their behavior within the app and collect the essential insights you want. Here, you can kill two birds with one stone. Impress the customers with interactive packaging and collect the important data that helps you in redefining your various business strategies.

Drive Tremendous Sale

Augmented reality packaging permits consumers to access all the required information within no time. It converts customers’ wants into needs and profoundly affects their buying decisions. Introducing impressive reward techniques, brands can encourage consumers for repetitive purchase. Well, it’s an awesome platform for cross product selling too. Manufacturers can promote their least selling products with the most selling entities and boost up their revenue cycle.

Improved Product Visualization

Use the extremely interactive content for the product to deliver a more realistic experience to the buyers. Push advanced animations along with the static print of the product’s packaging. Manufacturers can also insert videos, social media details, reward info, etc. to fuel the excitement of consumers. Offering 3D immersive augmented reality demonstration, brands can amaze customers with visually rich product presentation.

Customer Engagement Through Interactive Packaging Content

Contextually relevant content plays an essential role in the success of a product, campaign idea, and advertisement. Plan a compelling and unique content for your product packaging that inspires customers to take an immediate action. Augmented reality product helps companies in leveraging the promotion and partnership through immersive content. It directly affects the bottom line of the businesses by increasing ROI.

Besides, promoting the product through AR SDKs or mobile applications is quite cost-effective in comparison to other mediums such as television advertisements, sports, music, films, CSR programs, etc.

Maximal Social Engagement

Apart from a website and mobile application, brands have to create other touch points to connect with the massive target audience. When it comes to reaching out the larger customer base and interacting with them directly, nothing can beat the power of social media.

While creating content for an augmented reality product, integrate the social media details of your business. It allows brands and consumers for direct chit-chat. Moreover, stronger fan following on different social media platforms improves the credibility of the manufacturer. Social media works as sales driver that improves the success ratio of a campaign, drive repeat purchase, increase the propensity to purchase, as well as peer-to-peer advocacy and recommendation.

Intelligent Data Insights

Augmented reality product empowers the success of a marketing campaign. Using a simple code for each product, brands can analyze how customers interact with every single product. They can track and gather the data of the production cycle, stock management, pre-sales, sales, and post-purchase processes. Companies can use this data for product recall, sales analysis, product information, inventory management, reward systems, promotions, added value incentives, and more. Thus, using the data, brands can upgrade their manufacturing, sales, logistics, and marketing operations.

Unique Examples of Augmented Reality Packaging

Dutch Lady: Flying Farm 

It’s a leading brand of dairy beverages in Vietnam. They launched the ar packaging campaign in 2016. In order to achieve progressive sales, the company offered a wide array of products with toy collectibles. Introducing AR based mobile application, they maximized their sales and revenue.

By scanning the milk packs of the Dutch Lady, kids are redirected to a wonderful story of Matt Truitman (a Dutch farm boy) and Bella (the cow). To add the flavor of extra fun in this game, kids can scan the different farm toys and unveil new characters. Thus, the app facilitates the company with improved brand awareness as well as increased customer interaction, engagement, and excitement.

Hector & Karger 

Hector&Karger is a fashion brand that had launched an ar campaign to promote its AW 15/16. They developed an interactive lookbook called “RE_ALTY.” They allowed readers to scan the cover page of Moda magazine and view the photo shoot. Customers had provision to check out model from all the angles using an AR mobile application. Well, the app allowed users to make a purchase decision too.

Mandiri Bank and WWF

The app is designed and developed to serve a noble purpose and that is to save the endangered species of Javan rhinoceros in Indonesia. To protect the existence of the rhinoceros, WWF (World Wild Fund) and Mandiri (a bank of Indonesia) developed an augmented reality application. Users have to register with the Mandiri e-cash and the app will be redirected to a Mandiri ATM card. While making payments, a rhino appeared. Users could make donations and take care of the animal by unlocking medicine, food, and other treat in the game.