Advertising has always been a rapidly changing and dynamic industry. As consumer trends evolve, and more companies enter the market, promotional teams need to be truly innovative to maintain the attention of their target audience.
Today, in a world where companies can’t always create the in-person interactions required to leave a lasting impression on their customer, XR represents a powerful promotional tool. Used correctly, XR in advertising can strengthen brand relationships, increase sales, and even generate new opportunities for business growth.
Still not sure what XR in advertising could be capable of? Today, we’re going to be looking at some of the most impressive XR advertising case studies from the last couple of years, to inspire your team.
Autoliv and Unity
Autoliv, one of the world’s largest suppliers of automotive safety solutions, is dedicated to providing some of the most reliable and innovative products in the world. As the technology in the product portfolio offered by Autoliv continues to evolve, so too has the company’s marketing and sales strategy. Eventually, the company discovered a new need to move into the world of XR.
Leveraging real-time 3D technology with the help of the Unity ecosystem, the tier 1 automotive brand has been able to develop a modern product visualisation experience designed specifically to enhance sales and marketing operations.
The solution allows Autoliv to engage their customers with an easy-to-demonstrate insight into the products in the virtual landscape. The project started with 3D content creation, and is now evolving to include AR and VR presentations.
Kelloggs and Accenture
The Kellogg Company, otherwise known as Kelloggs is one of the worlds’ leading cereal companies, and a huge producer of savoury snacks, cookies, and crackers. Consumer brands such as this spend significant time and money trying to determine the best placement position for their products on retail shelves to boost advertising and marketing potential.
Fortunately, with the help of Accenture, Kelloggs was able to discover a new method for boosting its marketing potential, through VR. With both Accenture and Qualcomm, Accenture created an XR solution based on the Qualcomm Reference headset to create an immersive experience for Kelloggs. Customers were able to wear the headset when shopping in a “real store” allowing for a unique experience, while giving Kellogg’s a way to track eye movement as people shopped.
Michael Kors and Meta
A brand committed to innovation and excellence; Michael Kors decided it was time to deliver new experiences to customers in the form of a try-before-you-buy AR experience. Using the AR ads solution available from Meta (Previously Facebook), Michael Kors designed and ran a two-cell test campaign, which allowed them to examine the impact of AR.
The ability to virtually “try on” a pair of glasses to see what they might look like gave customers a more meaningful experience, leading to a five point lift in customer favourability towards the brand. The company also noted a 20.4 point increase in ad recall, a 3.9 point increase in purchase intent, and a 14% incremental increase in purchases.
MUJI and Varjo
Positioned in the middle of an urban location in Helsinki, MUJI often struggles to deliver the calm, peaceful, and minimalist experience it wants customers to associate with the brand.
In 2021, the company decided to double down on its strategy to convey a sense of serenity and clam to customers, by launching a new VR experience based on the ambience of nature. Implemented as a physical in-store installation, customers were given the option to use a Varjo Aero virtual reality headset, while enjoying a store bed.
Creating with a Finnish creative agency, the VR experience immediately delivered participants into the middle of a Finnish natural space, where viewers could open their eyes and see a wide lakeside vista surrounded by trees and greenery.
Rinnai and HTC VIVE
One of the largest gas appliance manufacturers in Japan, Rinnai is also among the top tankless gas water heaters in North America. The company’s products are gaining significant attention lately, due to an increased focus on high-efficiency heating, long-term cost savings, modern designs, and exceptional ease of use for customers.
However, many consumers simply didn’t know the benefits of Rinnai’s heater technology, until the company turned to HTC VIVE to enhance its marketing strategy.
Using the VIVE ecosystem, Rinnai America was able to significantly increase lead generation by providing users with a behind-the-scenes insight into how their technology worked.
Arksen, Varjo and Unity
The Unity Forma extension of the Unity Engine is a custom-made solution designed to help marketing teams produce powerful real-time content at speed for a digital landscape, without deep coding experience.
With the assistance of this new software, and Varjo, Arksen, an emerging British Marine adventure brand, was able to create a unique 3D model of their yacht, ready to be explored in the AR and VR environment by potential customers.
On completion, the creation of a VR universe allowed Arksen customers to provide customers and stakeholders with a full experience of what it might feel like to walk through a ship and experience life on the ocean. The solution even allows users to tinker with the design of the boat and make customization changes which can then be converted into an order.
Meta and MADE.com
A well-known lifestyle brand for the age of digital natives, MADE.com allows customers around the world to access a host of high-quality exclusive furniture designs underpinned by a small-batch label. MADE.com sells across eight markets around the world, but in recent years, the company began to feel as though they needed to upgrade their sales and marketing strategies.
With Meta and the AR ads available from the Meta landscape (Previously Facebook), MADE.Com could create an immersive experience where users were able to visualise what pieces of furniture might look like in their home using a smartphone camera. The result was a purchase increase of 2.5 times, and an increase in recall of over 40% after implementation.
