Let’s go back a couple of years for today’s post, and talk about the real-world results of augmented reality advertising.
The case in point is Mercedes and their cutting edge (for 2011) print ad that directed readers to browse to a video then place their smartphones over the rear view mirror in the ad to view it.
Aside from the “wow” factor, they did a credible job of getting their point across in a memorable way, according to the research statistics.
Craig Kolb of BizCommunity.com wrote a good piece on the results of the ad, and summarized some of the key findings:
The ad scored above average for recall among both sexes, but especially among males. Not surprising, as the ad ran in CAR magazine, which leans heavily toward male readers.
63% of the readers appear to have clicked through to the augmented reality video, with males doing so much more frequently. Again, not surprising: Gadgets, technology, cars…it’s a match.
Kolb raises some good insights, though, saying “… augmented-reality print ads could be a useful way of providing additional information to those consumers who are more involved in the category and therefore more likely to go to the effort of accessing online content.”
In other words, people have to care enough about your product to take the trouble to go deeper.
The problem, as we see it, is as soon as the “wow” factor wears off, augmented reality for its own sake could go the way of the QR code. It’s just too much work for too little payoff, unless it’s done really, really well. For instance, Ikea’s augmented reality catalog, which was a home run on several levels.
Ikea made its mark in augmented reality and cemented its brand’s reputation as one company that “gets it.” You bet I’ll do the deep dive in print ads from this company.
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