Augmented reality (AR) is at the heart of the advertising campaign for the new Volkswagen Golf Match.

Created by Tribal DDB London and Proximity London, the campaign features an augmented reality version of the car which can be examined by the consumers in 3D space.

The augmented reality experience is activated by showing a card containing an AR code to a webcam on consumer’s computer. The card is recognised by the webcam and becomes a road with the AR car travelling along it. The user can tilt the road to make the car move faster or slower.

A number of spots appear around the car highlighting the various features via pop up text panels detailing the cruise control, parking sensors and all other features of the car. This interactive feature enables consumers to have something close to a real life experience of the car.

Volkswagen is hoping that augmented reality will help to give consumers a better experience while researching online. Augmented reality enables consumers to have a closer look at the key technological features in a 3D space from the comfort of their own home.

“The advantage of using augmented reality is that it really delivers a closer and more engaging experience with Volkswagen”, Josie Taylor, communications manager at Volkswagen, said.

Victoria Buchannan, creative director at Tribal DDB added that augmented reality was not used just for the sake of it.

“On the surface it is a straightforward use of augmented reality, but in terms of overall user journey it is a big step closer to the levels of experience we want Volkswagen prospects and customers to have with the brand”, she said.

“This isn’t AR for the sake of AR, it has a practical application of the technology which is very useful for prospects.”

Feature article

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? Read more…

Augmented Reality – what is it and where is it taking us?

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

Set up by North Shields-based Ben Dures and Alistair Sutherland, reliabletradespeople.co.uk uses a strict evaluation system to help consumers find reputable tradesmen based on their location and area of expertise.

The site was set up after research revealed the North East to be the top region for rogue tradesmen.

Ben Dures said:  “I met up with Alistair at Christmas last year, we’ve known each other for years, and we started talking about dodgy builders and sloppy workmanship and came up with the idea for Reliable Tradespeople On-line.

“What is so distinctive about www.reliabletradespeople.co.uk is that it sets such high standards for contractors and service providers who wish to register with us. This is important to me because I’m very interested in ethical trading, the use of local labour and protecting the public.”

Following their success, the company is planning to expand. New markets are already in production and the plans to expand reach even beyond UK borders.

According to Oxford University Press, the demand for the print version has plummeted while online hits are blooming around 2 million a month. The current print edition, published in 1989, has sold about 30,000 copies.

Nigel Portwood, chief executive of Oxford University Press, said in an interview with the Sunday Times that the print market is disappearing, “falling away by tens of percent a year”.

According to Portwood, it’s unlikely that the next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary will be printed.

While the complete shift to digital marks the end of an era for the dictionary, which had its first edition published in 1884, the online version brings along a much-welcomed flexibility.

While updating the print version with a team of 80 lexicographers revising the content takes years, the online version is updated every three months.

The online version, launched first in 2000, will be relaunched in December to include a historical thesaurus to make cross-referencing easier.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Profile

Mikko Hypponen is the Chief Research Officer for antivirus company F-Secure. He led the team that took down the network used by Sobig.F worm in 2003 and was the first to warn the world about the Sasser worm outbreak in 2004.

Born in 1969, Hypponen has worked for F-Secure since 1991. During his time at the company, he has become a leading antivirus expert in the world, assisting law enforcement on cybercrime cases in USA, Europe and Asia. He has also been a guest speaker at several security-related conferences worldwide.

Hypponen was listed in the 50 most important people on the web by PC World magazine in 2007. The article described F-Secure’s company blog, written by Hypponen, to be one of the internet’s go-to places to learn about the latest security threats.

Hypponen lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. In his free time he collects and restores classic video games and old pinball machines.

Quote

If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.

~ Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine

Lateral Thinking

Q: A baby falls out of a twenty-story building onto the ground and lives? How is this possible?

A: The baby fell out of a ground floor window.

Definition

Burp is a slang term used to describe the resetting of any computer equipment to restore network functionality, such as the router. Burp is also used to describe a router losing a packet. May also be called a network burp or hiccup.

via Webopedia Computer Dictionary

The two companies are set to run a test programme from September until the end of the year in New York area.

Using small chips installed in smarphones, the system sends short distance radio signals between customers’ smartphones and point-of-sale devices in stores to collect bank account details and complete the purchase.

The programme is one of many attempts to introduce mobile phones as a primary means of everyday purchasing in the US.

According to Visa spokeswoman Elvira Swanson, the pilot programme could potentially have a powerful impact on the market.

Source: Stuff.co.uk

Gmail’s new ‘Priority Inbox’ feature tackles cluttered inboxes and sets a new challenge for online marketers.

Launched last Monday, the new feature uses an algorithm to sort incoming emails into three categories; Important and unread, Starred and Everything else.

The ‘adaptive algorithm’  works based on factors such as frequently used addresses and frequently opened messages. Users can also mark some recipients and senders as automatically important and, with time, the system will “learn” what kind of message the user deems important.

Google has boldly stated that the new feature works so well that once you start using it, you never want to go back.

More engaging and relevant than ever

If it proves popular among users, Priority Inbox will change the way email marketing works.

Elliot Ross, senior creative designer at e-Dialog London, told Marketing Week that the new feature calls for more engaging and relevant content in email marketing than ever.

“The key to getting into the priority inbox is relevance. The user is now actively teaching filters what they want to read, so every mailing should be as useful and engaging as possible.

“This means segregating your lists, following design and HTML best practice and cutting out irrelevant ’blanket blasts’ to everyone. It might even mean mailing people less sometimes.”

The value of email marketing has been a hot topic after ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry recently announced that they’re scrapping email marketing and focusing on social media platforms instead. Priority Inbox could be the final push towards a similar decision for other companies.

Mashable impressed

Priority Inbox has impressed writers of social media blog Mashable. After a few days of testing they wrote:

“Our inboxes get filled with hundreds of e-mails daily, but only a few of them require our immediate attention. Even with dozens of Gmail filters, important messages often get lost in the pile, leading to lost opportunities or missed meetings. Priority Inbox, while not perfect, is a dramatic step toward solving that problem.”