fbpx

AR Branding – A NextGen Product Marketing Tool

Branding a product is as essential as making one. In today’s market, we have hundreds of products as substitutes to another, and factoring in economies of scale, associating a brand for a product has increasingly become a grind. Taking Electronics as an example we can find there are countless variants of cheaper alternatives available to customers. Here, price is always a decisive and attractive component for them. These are all personal preferences; ultimately this compiles into a challenge for brands who strive to establish themselves at a competitive stage. The necessity to identify unexplored marketing segments becomes imminent here and that is why we bring in Augmented Reality capabilities to focus.

The power of AR

Making customers experience a product is the best way to market them. Trying a dress, Test driving a bike, using a piece of kitchen equipment is all about experiences. But when they are to cater to a mass population, customizing those experiences can be challenging. Individuals have their own choices- color, taste, design and need, a personalized experience could not be feasible on a large-scale. Augmented Reality (AR) brings the power of technology to cater to these shop-floor needs to everyday life through one of the most frequently used devices in our lives- the smartphone.

So how does AR work?

An AR app is developed by the branding company and makes it available for the user through mobile stores- say Play store and Appstore. Like any other mobile application, the user downloads the app, opens and here, they scan for a surface to bring the product for live interaction. Once a suitable surface is found out, the object is placed and is used for interaction. For example, a bike placed on the road using the AR app resembles a real bike in the same place so that the user can navigate around and check its features. Users may also be able to drive through the app and see how they resemble in real-time driving. While the rest of contemporary forms of advertising focus on showcasing and product explanations, AR brings the products to life and enables a realtime interaction with the customers. These apps can be configured to make them more relatable to Below The Line(BTL) advertisements as well- that is, the product can be brought to life by scanning the advertisements of that product or by enabling QR Codes.

Diverse Possibilities

AR does not always rely on apps, they can also be integrated into websites as well. The difference is instead of a standalone application, they are embedded into the webpage. The user clicks on the AR viewing option on the webpage and scans for a surface and places the object directly. Notably, AR capabilities work only on supported devices and the majority of recently launched smartphones support this capability. Such features embark on a new era on how a product is advertised to the public. A product recall is a crucial factor, with bombarding television advertisements and other mediums, users often confuse one brand with another. AR differentiates itself from the rest in this case, where users can experience the product, be able to change colors, select designs and suit the product to their needs and above all experience it. In this scenario where price and quality complete with each other, While other forms of promotions merely showcase products, AR-based product branding connects the product right to the customer.