As we wrote previously, we believe that the QR code is likely at the end of its useful life. More experience-rich forms of augmented reality, though, are just coming into their own.
Take Ikea. Their 2014 catalog allows potential customers to “see” any of their products in their own home before purchasing. Will the sofa look good next to that window? Will that piece of artwork overpower the headboard?
Raving Ikea fans have always looked forward to the yearly catalog mailing, and this year they have something extra to get geeked about.
It’s so new, in fact, that the Swedish home furnishings giant is running a series of television ads (sample below) that demonstrate, in a very Ikea-hipster-family-love-cool way, just how to use the catalog with your smartphone to visualize your purchases in your own space.
A catalog that needs a user tutorial? This, my friends, is new.
We applaud Ikea for thinking outside of their very flat boxes and creating a print-to-digital experience worthy of the paper it’s printed on. Will people download the app and use it? Considering their overall customer experience, and the love they get for it, I say yes.
Oh, and that new bookshelf looks great in my office.
[…] article references the Ikea catalog, with their augmented reality features that bring the products to life on our phones, as evidence that the gap between digital and paper […]
[…] already happening in publishing. Ikea hit AR out of the park with their 2013 catalog. Other brands like Mercedes scored big that year, and Elle broke some AR ground with their November […]