Everyone keeps talking about it. And the internet is buzzing with different demos of all the cool things you can do with it. But what does Augmented Reality really mean for marketing? And what do you need to know about it?

Augmented reality (AR) is by definition something that adds to reality. For example computer-generated content mixed with images from the real world.

So far, augmented reality has been scarcely used by companies in their marketing. Real return on investment is yet to be demonstrated and at the moment augmented reality tends to be something only forward-thinking brands are experimenting with and is often thought of as  being tricksy.

But is that a bad thing?

Adam Broitman, partner at a New York based agency Circ.us, is a big augmented reality gospel.

“People say it seems like a gimmick. It’s not a gimmick. And so what if it is? Since when was it wrong to have some gimmicks in marketing? Rich media banner ads – what were they?”

QR codes made redundant?

At the moment, the most common way for a brand to engage in augmented reality seems to be an interactive video that involves customers by using a webcam. Computer-generated images appear superimposed over the real world image captured by the webcam.

This is all good fun and engaging, but the novelty will wear off soon, Broitman says. According to him, the way augmented reality is used now is not what it will be like in the future.

“What this really means is we’re moving toward a new model. QR codes are simply a stepping stone to an augmented reality future. But we seem to skip steps. If augmented reality technology takes off, why do you need a QR code?”

QR codes, those funny looking black squares on products, which direct users to relevant websites, provide product details and so on, have brought immediacy to the process of finding information, but in the augmented reality future Broitman is talking about, there would be no scanning or sending. All you would need to do is hold up your mobile phone and a layer of information would be displayed on the real world image about the objects in the picture.

This is already the reality if you’re a smartphone user in search of a metro station in Dubai.

Using an augmented reality platform called Layar, the London-based software developer Howard Ogden created an AR app for the Dubai metro. Through the phone’s camera and information from the Roads and Transport Authority and Dubai Metro websites, the app displays data on an interactive screen enabling the user to, for example, locate the nearest metro station in a flash.

Making it simple

While the technology itself has been around for a while, the rise of smartphones has seen augmented reality made readily available to consumers – and lucrative for marketers.

The possibilities to engage are bigger than ever; virtual tours while car shopping, trying on sunglasses, 3D business cards with talking heads – the list goes on. The real challenge is a practical one.

“That will be the coup here, the ability to make it simple,” Broitman said.

“We’ve seen a lot of cool technology but consumer adoption is so low because no one wants to do the work to get it done. We’re trying to make it real simple.”

Augmented reality also changes the game for marketers touching some of the industry’s core concepts, Mike Moran, an internet marketing consultant, points out.

“Augmented reality threatens to further erode a marketer’s advantage in information. Economists talk about how markets crave perfect information, but marketers have traditionally known more about their products than customers have. The Internet has already diminished the marketer’s information edge, but augmented reality swings the pendulum even farther.”

Case study

And have a look at our case study – Volkswagen Golf goes augmented