Extended Reality – Help, Tips & Advice: Augmented Reality gives your marketing that extra boost

“Nothing is as outdated as last year's marketing strategy.” This saying is more relevant than ever in times of digital transformation, because anyone who relies on outdated methods in marketing quickly loses touch with more agile competitors. At the same time, targeted target groups turn away due to a lack of new entertainment and information incentives if they are not communicated with via the most up-to-date channels and with the latest tools.

That's why the cross-industry trend towards presenting virtual worlds of experience in marketing continues unabated. No wonder, 3D animations and videos say much more than any email newsletter or PDF brochure ever can. Mailings and brochures have long since teased their topics in order to increase interest and curiosity, which then ultimately leads to the expected landing page. An important building block for the appropriately adapted marketing strategy is augmented reality, which creates a realistic and interactive product experience that sustainably impresses and delights users.

After companies from the gaming and digital scene were among the pioneers in the use of AR tools, immersive marketing has now gained many fans in classic production and industrial sectors. Quite logically, the technology allows users to delve much deeper into the content and audiovisually designed world of experience of a brand, which is given a completely new feeling of presence through interactive elements.

AR blurs the boundaries between reality and virtuality. Since the technology, unlike virtual reality, does not rely on complex glasses, it can also be used in a much broader environment - both in physical presentations and purely online.

What makes AR so interesting for marketing managers in companies is that it is easy to implement with the right software. Service providers like Vuframe GmbH from Regensburg enable their customers to easily step into the brave new virtual world by providing them with powerful systems for transforming their existing CAD and 3D data into the AR environment.

Platform for product visualizations in 3-D from Vuframe® – Image: Vuframe

Users can import the company's own data directly into the SmartVu platform provided by Vuframe intuitively and without the need for programming knowledge, in order to design the AR world according to their own wishes. These 3D models can then be easily integrated into app and web content in marketing or made available to the target group via a link.

Thanks to strong compression, Vuframe turns large amounts of data into manageable formats. These ensure that the 3D visualizations can be used smoothly on all devices and systems. The app simulations are designed in such a way that they cannot be reconstructed by third parties. The protection of the company's own content is guaranteed at all times.

What was previously only understandable for programmers, unwieldy in size and impractical to handle manually, is brought into a compact model thanks to SmartVu, which helps companies create photorealistic AR simulations in a fully automated process in no time at all, which can be used immediately - and it is precisely the latter particularly important in our fast-moving times.

A big advantage of this form of WebAR is that it is browser-supported and does not require an app as a means of transport. In this way, AR elements can be easily integrated into online campaigns and presented directly to a large target group. Print campaigns can be ideally combined with the virtual world. Interested parties immerse themselves in the immersive worlds by simply photographing a QR code integrated into the display. The window to the interactive AR world then immediately opens, so that the user can delve deep into a company's product range from the office or the couch at home. It doesn't matter whether it's the latest sports car or a highly complex industrial plant: AR can be used to create virtual environments that ideally support both B2B and B2C communication from manufacturers and service providers.

The area of ​​application of AR in marketing is almost unlimited. The technology is ideal for transporting content and emotions from products and brands to the target group. With the help of suitable response tools, interaction with users can be increased even further.

It is also possible to create virtual showrooms or support physical shop presences using AR techniques. All of this is ideal for making existing and potential customers more interested in your offering and for conveying the brand message in an impressive, entertaining and varied way in order to sustainably strengthen the image.

Trade fair solution 4.0 with Pocket Booth – Pocket Booth’s innovative app for your pocket makes it possible for companies to easily implement a digital trade fair presence – Image: Vuframe

With the tools described, the possibilities of AR are far from exhausted. This is particularly true for trade fairs, which play a prominent role in the marketing strategy of most manufacturers. There, too, the virtual worlds of experience help companies to inform visitors about products in a comprehensive and interactive way and to inspire potential buyers. A good example is the smartphone app from Pocket Booth, which brings the trade fair stand into pocket size via an app; regardless of whether the user is on site at the trade fair or on the other side of the world.

The app creates elaborately designed 3D simulations with which the stand staff can present even large systems and machines that would not fit on a trade fair stand in detail via AR. The same applies to products that require explanation and that the user can explore interactively in a visually inimitable way in their own company environment.

The virtual world created by Pocket Booth can also be ideally used for trade fair follow-up or remote presentations, as the app works independent of time and location. The Pocket Booth-AR is therefore an ideal complement to the physical trade fair stand or as a virtual replacement - a factor that should not be underestimated, especially in times of canceled trade fairs, so that companies can maintain their trade fair communication.

Suitable for:

• The trade fair 4.0 solution with Pocket Booth
• The 10+ X benefits of Pocket Booth's virtual trade show appearance

But with the methods described, the virtual possibilities of AR are far from exhausted. The almost unlimited potential clearly shows that the development of AR has only just begun. Marketing managers should take a close look at the trends so that next year at the latest they won't be accused of their marketing being hopelessly out of date.

More about it here:

• How to get started in the virtual world of trade fairs – with a white paper to download
• How do you organize a trade fair appearance in 2022?

• No data security: Virtual Showrooms & Co. – What most people have forgotten and what you can do about it
• Smartview: Product photo 4.0 / Product image 4.0 – With video and WebAR example!
• Digital Twin – Digital Twin: 3D visualization and digital supply chain management
• Viewframework - the programming framework for 2022 - including for product photo 4.0 and WebAR