Trailblazer Reality works Augmented reality has been hailed as a shiny new tool for marketing for some time now. But does it work? And do consumers care? Words: martin bewick I s it time for marketers to take augmented reality (AR) seriously? After several years of steady development, AR technology is becoming an increasingly commonplace part of the consumer experience whether thats playing with lenses on Snapchat, scanning QR-type codes to discover extra content, or visualising products in domestic settings. Is it just the latest gimmick, however, or a truly useful tool for marketers? A recent research project by Mindshare Futures, involving AR technology company Zappar, and neuroscience-based market research company Neuro-Insight, set out to answer some of these questions. It used brain-imaging technology to measure how the brain responds to AR across a series of activities. It found that, across a series of cognitive function measures, AR experiences delivered almost double (1.9 times) the levels of engagement compared to their non-AR equivalent. Indeed, the part of the brain responsible for memory encoding sees almost three times (2.9) the level of activity when experiencing the AR version of an activity compared to the non-AR version. The results suggest that there is huge potential for AR to impact consumer behaviour. Catalyst asked three of the reports contributors about how that potential will affect marketing and consumers. Heather Andrew, CEO, UK, Neuro-Insight The question put to us was whether we could measure how AR works when people engage with it. Weve got more data than ever about many areas, but what it doesnt often measure is quality of experience. We wanted to look at the nature of the interaction, and thats where neuroscience fits in. We looked at a range of applications, mapping users brain activity as they engaged in an task. The AR experiences we tested included: a game; a BBC app where you could get further information behind a story; an app with AR information embedded in packaging; a Specsavers app where you could virtually try on glasses; and, the IKEA Home app. For each, we had a non-AR control version of the experience, such as browsing the website. The overwhelming trend across all applications was the level of difference between the AR and nonAR responses sometimes we were seeing double the level of brain response for the AR experience, and most were up between 30 and 50 per cent. Levels of visual attention were much higher, but that on its own doesnt mean a lot. What you want is for people to remember something, which then creates the chance of impacting behaviour. To do that you need something to enter into a persons memory, and we found that in some instances memory encoding was up to 50 per cent higher with the AR experiences so youre literally creating up to 50 per cent more impact. This shouldnt surprise marketers, who are aware that what drives brand perception more than anything is experience using something, rather than being presented with a two-dimensional representation; in other words, how humans live and learn. These results suggest that AR could help marketers bring advertising closer to the real world, and deliver jeremy pounder, mindshare positive and appropriate messaging in a way that has a better chance of influencing behaviour. Remember that, as with anything else, a negative experience will encode negative associations in memory, and so, like anything else, it has to be used in the right way. In the next three to five years, well see more AR content initiated independently of the user Max Dawes, partnerships and marketing director, Zappar The truth is that no-one cares about AR, because no-one really cares about technology. We dont care how the cashpoint or a light switch works we just care that it does. We need to be careful, therefore, to always think about ARs value offering. It needs to be more than a call to action, to scan here, or download here there needs to be a real purpose for it. Uptake on AR is still low. Many people use it without realising theyre doing so. On Snapchat, Snap lenses have done a brilliant job of permeating behaviours into our consciousness. Theyre just fun, of course, but they show how the thought of aiming your phone at something in the real world and getting extra content might develop. At Zappar, weve gone steadily up the food chain in terms of the seniority of the client stakeholders with whom we interface in regard to AR. In the early days, wed talk to marketing managers quite late on in a campaign, taking this shiny thing called AR and tacking it on to work that was already being done. Now, we are at the table earlier on, and AR is more fundamental to the marketing strategy. Surprise, delight and engage are still words we hear a lot in briefs, and data is being discussed significantly earlier in the process. Apples AR Kit and Googles AR Core have really blown things open in terms of being able to place AR content across the real world. FMCG is still the largest sector for AR, but the technology is increasingly being used in the corporate learning and development area. Theres a whole tier of companies whose employees dont work at a desk or have a laptop, but do have mobile devices such as shop-floor staff at retailers. Theres an opportunity to add AR on signage to create digital content to provide information for them. It can bring a dry subject matter to life, and engage people on subjects, such as fire-safety training, or how to assemble things. AR can offer really rich data about your physical real estate. Take packaging, which could be your largest owned media channel. With AR, packaging becomes dynamic rather than static, and you can push content and messaging through it, and discover what time of day people are interacting with it and for how long. For example, we worked with packaging agency Anthem on a campaign for Fanta in central and eastern Europe. We found that in Switzerland there was a pronounced spike in engagement around midday, whereas in the Baltics the graph was a bit smoother. It told us very clearly that Fanta was a drink that people in Switzerland consumed with their lunch. Its about harnessing the power of your real estate. Top to bottom: Jeremy Pounder, Max Dawes and Heather Andrew Jeremy Pounder, director of futures, Mindshare With AR, our approach has been the same as it has with any other emerging platform. Marketers should ask the same questions of AR as they would with any other opportunity. How does it work? What are its strengths and weaknesses? They can then advise clients and stakeholders about whether its right or not. The challenge is not to get bogged down in the technical aspects, and to know when we need to bring in other partners to help dont be dazzled by the shiny technology. What many applications have focused on so far, is a stage that weve termed surprise and delight fun, gimmicky, one-off applications that people might only engage with once or twice. That could be a print promotion with a simple embedded AR game: Snapchats lenses or Pokmon GO. These are all valid, but well start to see AR being used by brands for more practical purposes wayfinding services, for example, or being able to hold your phone over your fridge and get recipe suggestions, or scanning a piece of equipment at the gym and see an overlay of how to use it properly. The second stage we identified is layering. Even if consumers are not using the term AR, they will increasingly expect to be able to point their phones at physical products or infrastructure and receive content in the form of information or 3D imagery. In the US, for example, they are discussing legal requirements for food packaging, which could mean extra nutritional information being available by scanning the packaging. It will become a normal thing for us all to do. The third stage is surfacing. At the moment, AR is initiated by the user usually by reading a call to action and scanning a code. In the next three to five years, well see more content initiated independently of the user, and this will be driven by image recognition. For example, Google Lens, which brings up information using visual analysis, is now being integrated into the cameras of high-end phones. It will enable people to point their phone at any object around them to reveal extra information. Smart glasses will eventually bring this to full potential, although this is still a little way off. The final stage, we call flowing. This is about assistance, and how brands can help solve everyday problems. Were already seeing this with chatbots and AR will have a role here, too, supplying everyday utility. One aspect that will be particularly relevant to marketers is how AR helps people move across the customer journey. Where AR is about fun engagement moments, its also about developing warmer feelings towards the brand. But where AR will start to be used more is in helping consumers make choices and purchases. The IKEA Home app is perhaps the best-known example of this at the moment, but soon well start to see shoppable AR, which Snap is pushing. Adidas and Nike are looking at how consumers can play with AR executions and then directly purchase a product. Finally, theres ARs place in the post-purchase experience. Food and drinks, and FMCG brands know that they have shelf-space in peoples homes, where products remain for some time. What can they give back to the consumer at that point? Its effect on marketing will be felt across the whole journey. cim.co.uk/exchange