AR/VR is a relatively new digital trend but it has already proved its marketing effectiveness. The task of marketing is to put your product into the public eye, and AR can help brands do the job.

Over the last several years, its applications have multiplied as more brands started seeing it as a competitive advantage. When done properly virtual reality can help you

• engage customers by giving unique online/offline experiences with your product;
• build an emotional connection with your audience;
• generate UGC and media coverage;
• track customer data;
• take over competitors.

To give you a better understanding of the technology, we invited Daria Fedko, founder and CEO of WeAR Studio, to share her thoughts on the potential augmented reality offers for digital marketing.

Listen to Daria explaining how VR and AR engage consumers into interaction with products and generate sales and brand recognition.

For those who are looking for the highlights, here is a short summary of lessons learned.

Key Takeaways

#1. What is XR: definition, types, examples.

• XR stands for extended reality. The term includes augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR). Such realities feature a mix of characteristics of the real world and digital world.
• Augmented reality overlays the real world with virtual elements. It requires a device with an external camera. Can be used within a mobile app, web browser or AR module that can be integrated into some platform (e.g. Instagram filter).
• Virtual reality is a fully modeled 3D digital environment. It requires glasses or a headset. The technology allows a deeper immersion and feeling of presence compared to AR. It’s perfect for any kind of training and education as it allows to recreate almost any process. VR transforms storytelling into storyliving, making a user part of the story.
• Mixed reality is a mix of AR and VR. It requires glasses to perceive the information and helps interact with the reality being hands-free.

#2. How XR is used in marketing.

XR solutions are being used in marketing for different purposes:

• Brand awareness;
• Enhanced communication with the customers;
• Guerilla marketing;
• Retention rates growth;
• Visualization of education;
• Interactive user experience;
• Virtual try-ons.

Cases

#1

Company: Burger King

Solution: AR app offering a free burger to users who scan a McDonald’s’s leaflet and run to the nearest Burger King place within 1 minute.

Results:

• 2020 Webby Awards Winner;
• 180% downloads of the Burger King app;
• 11.8% customer growth;
• Over 4 million McDonald’s’s customers learned about the campaign.

#2

Company: OKKO AR

Solution: coffee cups with AR-activated characters, karaoke function and integration into the loyalty program.

Results:

• 70K app downloads;
• 120K songs sung;
• 9K discounts used;
• 300K liters of gas sold.

#3

Company: Lowe’s VR

Solution: VR room for learning how to do DIY projects.

Results:

• 40% of clients reported improvement in their personal DIY skills.

#3. What data can be collected through VR/AR apps.

To understand whether your VR/AR app works and whether people are eager to interact with it, you need to track user behavior and analyze it. Depending on your solution, you can track and use:

• User behavior heatmap;
• Usage time;
• Test user’s knowledge and skills;
• Emotions;
• Voice;
• Movement;
• User self-report.

#4. XR trends to look for.

• Social media filters;
• Web AR;
• Body tracking;
• XR glasses.

#5. What to consider before getting started with XR development.

• Goals you want to achieve by using XR;
• Platform you’ll be using it on;
• Type of content it will include;
• Integration with the current marketing strategy;
• Customer data you’ll be tracking.

With the cost of hardware for XR dropping, more brands will adopt extended reality for their marketing. Emotion-driven unique experiences can attract new users and generate media coverage, provided your campaign is creative enough.

However, before developing an XR solution, you need to define measurable goals and think of how to implement the solution with your business ecosystem and current marketing strategies. It should be relevant to your audience and resonate with the brand’s tone of voice.

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