Augmented Reality and the Five Senses
Advertisers are using Augmented Reality (AR) in print ad campaigns more and more to give visitors extra content and more immersive experiences. The technology educates consumers and shows products more realistically, which helps reduce returns. It also creates a multisensory online shopping experience that mimics the feel of shopping in a store.
AR advertising relies on high-quality visuals, video and audio. Turn a 2D ad into a 3D experience and videos of models wearing apparel can spark interest in a brand. Virtual try-on has changed online shopping, letting customers see products from different angles and try different colors and patterns. IKEA, for example, uses AR with 3D modelling to show customers how furniture will look in their homes.
Audio is another key part of AR ads. It sets the tone and improves the product experience. From catchy music to the sound of a beer can opening or ocean waves, audio works with the visuals to stir emotions and create atmosphere.
Smell and taste aren’t fully part of AR technology yet, but visuals and audio can still stir those senses. A pizza brand might show a close-up of a steaming hot pie with melting cheese, along with the sound of someone grabbing a slice, and the viewer starts to crave a meal. Fragrance brands can use images and video to capture the fresh smell of spring.
Touch isn’t fully realized in AR either, but retailers can still suggest texture and movement. A magnified view of rug fibers can show how the rug feels, for example, and tracking technology lets shoppers virtually try on costumes that bounce or apparel that moves with the models on a virtual runway. Elements like these give shoppers a sense of how the products they’re looking at online would feel.
In the end, putting AR into print ad campaigns improves the whole shopping experience and helps the bottom line. When AR engages several senses, conversion rates and purchase intent go up. AR keeps pushing the limits of online shopping and gives consumers a more immersive, interactive way to connect with brands. As advertisers add more Augmented Reality to print ad campaigns, they can give visitors more content and experiences through AR overlays, as well as a more immersive experience that educates consumers better and shows products more realistically, so fewer get returned.
In Interactive Print campaigns for omnichannel marketing, Augmented Reality can reach all five senses and give consumers more of an in-store feel when they shop online. Engaging the senses gives viewers a fuller idea of your products than visuals alone. Word from the Meta-verse is that “These marketing adjustments acknowledge the proven effectiveness of AR marketing: products promoted with Augmented Reality content have a 94% higher conversion rate than products without and using AR in advertising increases purchase intent by nearly 2.5x.”
The bottom line is that AR in your print ad campaigns is good for your results. Take accessories and fashion: virtual try-on makes excellent use of the sense of sight.
Sight
Most Augmented Reality advertising depends on high-quality images, video and audio. Print ad campaigns with AR often include videos of your products inside the AR space, which turns the 2D ad into a 3D experience. Videos of models wearing your apparel can pique shoppers’ interest in your brand. Trying products on virtually has also changed online shopping. From eyewear try-on to full-body tracking, you can see how different garments and accessories look on your body from every angle, and click through colors and patterns to decide what you like. Some retailers, IKEA among them, use Augmented Reality with 3D modelling to show how their furniture would look in your home or business. IKEA Place lets shoppers move furnishings around a room on their smartphones, so they can judge the size of each piece, see it in perspective and get a feel for how it works in a particular space.
Audio
You probably don’t want to hear what you sound like trying on clothes, but you’ll likely enjoy trying on clothes or eyewear frames virtually more if catchy music is playing. Music, street sounds, voice-overs, dialogue and other audio set the tone for brands in AR ads, and sound in videos can make products more appealing. The sound of a beer can or bottle opening can bring back that refreshing moment. The sound of the ocean can recall walking on a beach, and the clink of silverware and glasses in the background can suggest an elegant restaurant. Smooth jazz can add a note of sophistication to an AR ad for high-end vodka. Last but not least, imagine an immersive Harley-Davidson test ride delivered in 360 degrees. The sound alone would keep you coming back. Smell and taste are complex senses, and Augmented Reality hasn’t perfected Smell-O-Vision yet, so AR experiences rely on visuals and audio to stand in for them.
Smell
Audio and video can create a craving for a cold drink: the sound of a bottle opening and the spray of bubbles say refreshment. Smell works the same way in scenes with food, through sight and sound. A pizza brand might use a video of a steaming hot pie fresh from the oven, with a close-up of melted cheese stretching across the frame as someone grabs a slice. Fragrance brands might use images of flowers, a video of a tropical beach or sheer fabric catching a breeze on a clothesline in a fresh green setting to capture the smell of spring. Taste is closely tied to smell, and it can also come to life in AR ads through high-quality video.
Taste
Pre-measured meal kits such as HelloFresh are popular right now. They can show customers video of how different dishes are made, with close-ups of the ingredients and finished dishes presented to make you crave the flavors. A wine ad might take shoppers to the winery where the grapes were grown, feature the vintner and use video of berries, chocolate, butter and other dominant flavor notes as visual cues for specific wines. Technology hasn’t quite caught up with letting shoppers reach into an AR scene and touch products, although researchers at Texas A&M University are working on touch screen technology that will do exactly that.
Touch
In the meantime there are several ways to suggest what products might feel like. Retailers can place elements in print ads that give shoppers a magnified view of the fibers in a rug, so they can form an idea of the texture and how it would feel to touch. An AR component showing the threads in a sheet of paper, and the natural sources of its fibers, can hint at how the finished product feels. Body tracking technology lets shoppers see how products move. A customer trying on a costume that bounces can move around to see how it would look in motion. With body tracking for virtual apparel try-on, advertisers might show their apparel on models walking down a runway. If the apparel is marketed as evening gowns or school dance attire, watching models dance in flowing gowns or short, twirly skirts gives shoppers more tactile information about what they’re thinking of buying online. To capture the feel of wooden furniture, you could show video of the sanding and varnishing process so consumers get a sense of the polished surface.
Conclusion
By tapping into the five senses, AR solutions are changing print ads and direct mail campaigns and giving online shoppers a more interactive, immersive experience.
Contact us to learn more about how you can increase engagement and influence purchasing decisions with Augmented Reality and Interactive Print!