Augmented reality

Target and Argos: Is the multichannel catalogue taking off?

There are many retailers that have trialled image recognition technology in their catalogues.

The tech allows the retailer’s app users to scan and shop or access additional content. So far, it seems to have been a test-and-learn activity from brands such as Net-A-Porter (as part of their magazine, Porter) and IKEA (which has focused on additional content rather than commerce).

Target is new to shoppable catalogues this month and Argos has further enhanced its now Aurasma-powered offering. Both of these huge retailers I think have found good use cases.

Let’s take a look.

Why the phrase ‘augmented reality’ should be retired

I’m going to nail my colours to the mast. I think augmented reality (AR) technology is already big and can be massive.

The only thing is, I don’t think its best use is in augmenting reality, per se.

Where AR apps have a big future is the creation of a ‘physical world domain’. That’s a phrase used by Ambarish Mitra, CEO of Blippar. It essentially means using objects as the physical keys to information or rewards online.

Blippar signed up with Pepsi and Coca Cola recently and this feels like a game changer. With QR codes failing to be implemented properly in many cases (with bad placement, instructions, URLs, or landing pages), the company could be well-placed to own the discovery and reward space.

FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) feels like a proving ground for this technology (and all reports of the number of scans are good, so far), with immense numbers of units providing marketing real estate to rival any other ‘channel’.

So why might it be so powerful as a tag or key, but not as augmenter?

Five key trends and takeouts from Google I/O 2014

This year’s Google I/O conference, held weeks after Apple’s WWDC, showed the world that Google really is taking over every aspect of our lives, and challenging its fiercest rivals.

As Android users have increased from 530m last year to more than 1bn this year, Google announced its ‘biggest ever overhaul’ with a completely new set of Android products. 

Read on for my top five developments (plus a dose of healthy rivalry)…

Three mobile marketing trends that didn’t live up to the hype

Mobile marketing trends come and go, just like the changing of the seasons and the tides of the sea.

Some stick around and become established marketing channels in their own right, such as SMS or mobile apps, but all too often new mobile technologies burn brightly for a short period before withering and dying.

With this in mind, I’ve rounded up three mobile marketing trends that have so far failed to live up to the hype. I’m not saying they’re dead yet, but they’re on shaky ground.

For a similar grumblings about mobile trends, read my post looking at 12 usability flaws that are spoiling the mobile web.

Or alternatively, expand your knowledge of this topic by downloading the Econsultancy Mobile Marketing and Commerce Report 2013…

Eight great examples of mobile marketing from Southeast Asia

Mobile penetration varies hugely among APAC nations, however in developed countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore more than three-quarters of the population own a smartphone.

In response to this consumer trend APAC marketers have to place greater emphasis on mobile, which has resulted in some extremely creative campaigns.

Having previously investigated stats on m-commerce from the region, here are eight excellent examples of mobile marketing campaigns from APAC.

When can I buy Google Glass?

Last year, the Econsultancy blog featured several articles about Google Glass, as did most digital and business blogs, cognisant of the technology’s hold on the public’s imagination.

I rounded up a collection of apps and postulated as to what affect they might have on society. A few of our Editorial team got to try Glass, too (courtesy of Somo).

This year, Glass still has us rapt. CES unveiled some third parties’ intentions for Glass and a wide variety of wearables were debuted, showing the trend is not abating. Elsewhere, most national news outlets’ covered the failed citation against a Californian woman caught driving whilst wearing Glass (there was no evidence the device was switched on).

As the internet has become widely used globally and consumers are now very comfortable using the web for a variety of functions, the idea of connected devices has started to feel less alien, too. The internet of things, particularly the connected home also made more noise at CES this year.

So I thought it was time for a ‘where are we at?’ style post, to look at the latest iterations of third party Google Glass apps, new developments from Google itself and even perhaps to predict when we’ll actually see people using Glass, outside of Silicon Valley.

Three reasons why digital marketers should revisit augmented reality in 2014

AR (augmented reality) gets a tough rap in digital marketing circles. To date, the technology is still most visible powering children’s games and providing 3D thrills that use your tablet or smartphone to layer digital information or graphics over real-world objects. 

With wearable tech exploding off the tradeshow floor at CES, and Google Glass finally infiltrating mainstream press, it’s time to take a serious look at augmented reality in modern marketing and the enterprise.

Here are three reasons why I’m betting on seeing more use of AR from savvy brands and agencies in the year(s) to come.

The British Museum: five lessons in augmented reality

Since 2009, the British Museum has educated youngsters in Bloomsbury via its Samsung Digital Discovery Centre (SDDC). It’s free, and is the most extensive on-site digital learning programme of any UK museum. 

I went along to the British Museum last week to see the launch of a new image recognition and augmented reality (AR) app, A Gift for Athena, helping kids to engage with the museum’s Parthenon gallery. 

The app, built by Gamar, is simple in premise and use, but also a lot of fun, showing that augmented reality can succeed when applied in the right manner. 

In this post I’ll discuss why the app works, and what’s needed to succeed with AR.

How Marvel is revolutionising comic books with digital

Digital is becoming ever more important for the comic industry.

Although the industry is guarded when it comes to revealing figures,  Comixology (which release digital comics from the major publishers and many independents) has cited reaching 50m downloads in January 2012 and doubling that figure to 100m only 10 months later in October.

Physical comic book sales have been pushing against the tide of declining sales in other print media for some time now, with 2012 showing a 15% increase in sales year on year, and 2013 showing a similar trend.

It’s clear the success of digital comics is increasing rapidly and concurrently with print, and it’s Marvel, who in the last few years has shown incredible skill in rebuilding its own brand, which is offering a lot more in terms of technology and service in its range of apps for mobiles and tablets. 

A halloween of spookily augmented reality at Asda

When I was a kid, riding trolleys down supermarket aisles and giving my twin brother beats in public were the symptoms of my boredom at the local Tesco or Asda.

That was before ‘retail-tainment’ involved the smartphone or tablet.

The supermarket is the perfect crucible for ‘retail-tainment’. Outside of big cities, supermarkets are captive markets, often entailing a long visit with the family, and competing with rival stores on a weekly basis.

Winning the battle to keep kids obedient or event interested in store would be a boon for any supermarket chain.

At the moment, there are supermarkets such as Asda that are synonymous with family, but none that have mastered retailtainment. More apps and in-store challenges with rewards will provide an effective antidote to the rogue use of toys by children that then abandon them in the bakery aisle.

Asda is using Zappar to offer kids the chance to be greeted by Sir Spook in 400 of its stores. Combined with some physical events, pumpkin carving and the like, they’re aiming to be the family supermarket at Halloween.

Augmented reality: the Ikea catalogue and beyond

With the advent of Ikea introducing an augmented reality (AR) app to enhance its 2014 catalogue, we are starting to see a gradual shift in how retailers can use the power of digital to improve the customer experience. 

It seems as if augmented reality is no longer just for enhancing advertising campaigns, there are now many more practical applications of the technology. 

Here we’ll look at the Ikea AR app, and then a general round-up of other companies making great strides in the realm of augmented reality.

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