I am sure we all remember Pokémon Go.
And do you remember all those people searching and catching Pokémons all over the word? It was a real social fenomena.
Just imagine that some of these people are your customers and instead searching Pokémons they could be searching for your store discounts! Or your store credit points. It´s a great idea, isn´t it?
What can we learn from this fenomena?
Pokémon GO is the living proof that if you combine a mobile game with innovative technology, like AR, and add a partnership with such mobile ecosystem as Google, mostly likely you will hit the jackpot and create not just a new mobile game but a worldwide phenomena. And of course, there is one extra component of the Pokémon GO success – it’s based on previously popular Pokemon Brand.
Now you can easily imagine: just switch Pokémon Go with a well known food chain company (or whatever), add some marketing idea manipulation … and there you go! Maybe you will not get 500 millions of downloads worldwide*, like Pokemon Go did, but I am asure it is still a huge success getting just a few percentage of that number!
Augmented Reality – A huge and blooming market
“What’s different about AR”, says Ana Javornik, an academic at the Newcastle University Business School, “is the ability to overlay virtual content on the physical world and have the two interact in real time.” Rather than shutting us off from reality, AR enhances our experience of it.
“Marketers should remember that AR is not about creating a completely new reality; it’s about enhancing what already exists. When the virtual is well fitted with the physical and interacts with it, that’s when AR magic happens.” says Ana Javornik.
Gartner, a technology research company, predicts that by the end of this decade 100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality. The technology is still in its infancy. But with the some of the biggest brands and marketing companies moving into this space (Ikea, RayBan, CoverGirl), it can only be a matter of time before AR changes the world.
Augmented Reality in the Retail Segment
Customers are looking for a unique experience when it comes to shopping, both online and offline. Retailers that use AR technology to deliver these experiences will beat out the competition. And it’s not only big businesses that are using this technology. Often, larger companies are stuck in legacy systems and in red tape that blocks innovation, which means smaller retailers can use AR technology to take more of the market.
Retailers that invest in VR and AR technologies are sure to edge out the competition in the near future.
Converse, for instance, created a Sampler app, where users snap a picture of their leg and can see what different shoes look like on them.
LEGO has created an in-store action app to improve the shopping experience. It encourages people to download the app and visit a LEGO store to pose along with mini figures. Moreover, certain stores offer AR-powered kiosks that bring the products to life with the use of 3D technology.
Gamification
First and foremost, Gamification is not equal to games. On the web you can find a lot of Gamification definitions. I have chosen the next two, because I think they give the right idea:
- Gamification is the application of gaming concepts to non-game experiences in order to drive desired behaviour from an audience.
- Gamification is the process of applying video game mechanics – things like points, rewards, badges and so on – to non-gaming websites and apps.
The theory is simple: make something fun, and the customer or employee is more likely to use it. But according to Adam Kleinberg, a journalist at Mashable, there’s also a deeper psychology behind gamification. Kleinberg cites a 2010 study in the Harvard Business Review, which concluded that a sense of progress is the most important motivating factor at work. Both as employees and consumers, we want to strive for something – a reward, a point, an outcome. Companies are learning that they can drive engagement by tapping into this desire for progress.
The time is now!
While AR is not quite yet mainstream, this trend is really growing fast and engaging users in the meantime. Now is the time to invest in Ar technology to meet customers demands, create unique experiences, and put your brand ahead of the rest.
Enkronos development team is working hard to release our new AR App, that should be ready for the market in May 2018. We are proud and thrilled to be on the edge of this powerful and helpful technology that can help companies stand out of the croud and give customer a really unique experience!
Check out our giff preview of [The name is still secret] APP on the video below:
Enkronos Marketing Team
Source:
http://www.businessofapps.com/data/pokemon-go-statistics/
https://www.lsretail.com/blog/retailers-benefit-augmented-reality/
https://hbr.org/2016/04/what-marketers-need-to-understand-about-augmented-reality
https://www.clickz.com/how-is-ar-revolutionizing-the-in-store-experience-for-retailers/112696/
https://mashable.com/2011/07/18/gamification-marketing/#Up6VNjdEGqqR
*This augmented reality (AR) game required players to catch digital monsters that appeared more or less randomly in real-life locations. The app was downloaded by over 500 million people (!), and although the game quickly peaked, it kept enjoying a very healthy fan base. The phenomenon may have faded, but it still holds important lessons for retailers, giving us some clear insights into what customers want.
