Timing is everything. Marketeers know that shopping for the holiday season starts swiftly; a report from Mintel shows that 30% of US adults start shopping before Thanksgiving comes around the bend. With the holiday period coming in fast, it’s time to start thinking about how to bring customers to your side. Between the jingle bells of Christmas, the family meals of Hanukkah, and the decoration of trees during Bodhi Day, it is the best time to be part of the most joyous periods of family life.
As a strategic addition, augmented reality (AR) is the most engaging way to leverage your campaigns. The technology is proven to bring customers closer to brands and organisations over any other content form, beating video engagement rates by 75%. Before the snow starts to fall, it’s time to consider how AR can help you level up your holiday campaigns.
With that said, here are some step-to-step insights on how AR can help you.
AR to engage your customer and increase relevancy
At its core, AR is an incredibly powerful way to increase your presence, during a key season. The entertainment that comes from the day of festivities is intermingled with your own contribution, via AR elements that leap out of the screen to surprise and delight the users. Packaging is a great example of this; for many, gift-giving during the festivities is a critical part of the season, and AR heightens the excitement of the celebrations under the bright lights.
Ruffino Wines did this, as one example. The contents of the competition paired with the season based on its relevancy, alongside its fun compliment.
Ruffino Wines 'Open a Season of Joy' AR activation
The role AR can play in extending your brand
Once fully integrated, the magic of AR becomes clear, shaping spending with consumers. ARtillery Intelligence found that it will influence $36bn in consumer spending by 2024 – offering huge potential for brands. With AR, companies can peek under the hood and see which elements of the experience customers are engaging with. Perhaps they are interested in the recipes linked to a food product, or they are particularly focused on playing as a particular team in a sports mini-game. These granular insights not only expand the brand into the user’s living room, but also gives insights into their habits once home.
Our work with Truist highlights this, offering a diversity of filters during the holiday season. At the core of AR is the potential of bringing the real world into the virtual, tying them close to enrich the lives of users.
Truist 'Lighting Up Your World'
How to use AR for your holiday campaigns
AR can be used in many ways, but the most important to consider is how it aligns with your brand’s values and activities. A throwaway game means little if it does not deliver results for the brand. Creating an AR experience for the sake of itself, without properly integrating it with the core of a campaign, is a sure way to miss the opportunity. The experience must use the same messaging, colour palettes, assets, and overall theme in order to chime with your customers, no matter the type of festivities. It is shareable, too; Camera IQ found that 78% of people are more likely to share experiences with family members if it uses AR, as it sparks a particular kind of community-like joy.
Execute a successful holiday campaign
Blippar helps brands to execute campaigns that drive real results and prime user engagement. If you have any questions on how we can help you during the holiday period, contact us here.
