Download - When Physical Meets Digital March 2015
When Digital Meets Physical – Augmented Reality Set For Massive Growth Author: James Towers, Founding Partner, 16K Agency – Stockholm, Sweden. Marketers need to understand the frontier that is Augmented Reality, as its growth in the next 1-‐3 years will make or break brands. Augmented Reality has been associated with the likes of Bond and Sci-‐Fi films for decades. Its first notable application in the public eye was in 1975 where graphic overlays were used with the nightly weather reports. In its true form, Augmented Reality is digital technology that enhances or ‘augments’ the physical world. Only now are brands starting to see the path to heightened consumer engagement and monetisation, which is about to fuel enormous growth as the technology becomes mainstream. Predicted Growth and Market Size Driven by the rapid rise of smartphone, mobile tablet device penetration and advancements in mobile Internet, the Augmented Reality (AR) market has a projected global growth figure of $5.2B US, which will be realised by the end of 2016. By 2018 there will be 200 million individual AR smartphone application users. And by 2020, 100 million automobiles will have active AR displays on board. That’s a swell that some brands are already starting to paddle into and the spoils will go those that get their hair wet early. Some of the brands that are leading the charge into AR are Lego, GE, Kraft, L’Oreal, Volkswagen, Emirates and The Body Shop to name a few. German print and communications giant, Bauer Media Group, have invested significantly in the adoption and development of the AR application, Viewa. The Viewa application has now eclipsed over 1 million downloads and gloats an average CTR of 7% per execution, far outreaching the average Facebook campaign of 4.5% or the underwhelming standard of digital banner ads being just 0.07%. The Dawn of the AR Specialist Media Agency Traditional media agencies have been slow to navigate advancements in AR technology. In many cases the innovation seen from companies is driven via the actual brands themselves looking to gain the edge over their competitors. The freshly launched 16K Agency is a media agency specialising in AR within the media and retail industries of the Nordic region. Established in Stockholm in early 2015, 16K Agency have adopted AR technology and are now introducing it to brands and media owners in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.
What It Means For Brands Marketers know that brand experience and high engagement is the key to modern day marketing success. Richer web and fluent mobile experience are essential tools needed to fight for consumer’s fickle attention. AR delivers a platform where consumers can now have rich digital engagement with any physical brand touch points like, products, print media, outdoor, POS, transit or experiential displays. This is making the path to purchase far shorter and far more personalised for the consumer. Media owners with print or physical assets are seeing a three-‐fold benefit. Firstly, their advertisers can now integrate digital retail opportunities directly from their print executions. This is giving publishers a hand in the pocket of ever-‐expanding digital budgets. Secondly, the editorial content can be enriched with greater digital experiences like video, links to related content, online destinations, competitions, extended photo galleries and more. Thirdly, brands can now have highly accurate and real-‐time engagement data over media channels that were, historically, extremely expensive and difficult to gauge. Outdoor Media owners are essentially now the landlords of 1,000’s of mobile ‘pop up’ retail sites as AR technology enables any outdoor media execution to come to life. Now, any brand can have a virtual ‘bricks and mortar’ store in all the train stations, bus shelters or streetscapes. Retailers now have the opportunity to bring their packaging or products to life. FMCG brands can make their products appear ‘alive’ by suggesting recipes, complimentary products, and in store and location specific vouchers. Fashion retailers can offer off-‐the-‐tag executions that help buyers style and match their purchases with help from style-‐tip videos. Brands Can Speak In Real-‐Time With AR technology having the ability to ‘augment’ the real world, brands can serve different content or creative in real-‐time to consumers. The effect on personalisation of the media experience is huge. Brands are able to serve different content each minute of the day, if needed, and also change this via location or through user preferences or demographics. The Road Ahead Brands that want the next step in consumer engagement need to make the decision now to lead their competitors with AR and forge ahead with what is an industry on the edge of outstanding growth. About the Author: James Towers is the Founding Partner of 16K Agency, a Stockholm based agency focusing on Augmented Reality for the media and retail industries in the Nordic region. Sources: Juniper Research August 2013 http://brandongaille.com/augmented-reality-market-size/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234407 http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/kraft-fuels-mobile-sell-more-summer-cheeseburgers-158350