This blog post provides you with a fresh look into how immersive tech is transforming brand experience. To be honest, digital marketing gets a major glow-up. Flat web pages and static ads these days give way to an entirely new world of experiences. Thanks to Augmented Reality or AR and Virtual Reality or VR.

Have you tried out a virtual makeup filter on Instagram?  Have you taken a 360-degree tour of a car showroom on your mobile phone? If your answer to both or one of these questions is affirmative, you have already experienced this tech revolution.

Brands across industries are using AR/VR in digital marketing. They do this intending to capture the attention in fun, personalized, and creative ways. In this blog post, we will get to know some of the most popular AR and VR Campaigns.  Also, you can gain insights into the differences between AR and VR in digital marketing.

AR and VR – The Basics

Before understanding how popular brands use AR VR in digital marketing, it is better to first understand what they are:

Augmented Reality

You can think of Augmented Reality as a digital layer on top of the real world. With the help of your tablet or phone, AR adds elements like text, animation, or images to your actual surroundings. You continue to stay in your real world. Nevertheless, it happens in a cooler way.

Virtual Reality

As against AR, Virtual Reality takes you out of the real world and drops you into a completely engaging digital atmosphere. However, to fully experience the magic of VR, you will need a VR headset. However, once you are in, you can walk through spaces, look around, and explore entirely new worlds.

So, when it comes to Augmented vs virtual reality in digital marketing, the former is more accessible just through your phone. Also, it blends with your everyday life. On the other hand, the latter gets deep-perfect for sharing your story. It is ideal for simulation-based campaigns.

Real-World Examples of AR VR in Digital Marketing

The following brands have used these technologies in their digital marketing campaigns to provide an immersive experience to their prospective customers:

IKEA Place – Try Before You Buy (AR)

You might have heard of IKEA. This brand entirely nailed its “problem solver” side of augmented reality with its IKEA Place App. You might have had the experience of buying a couch online. After placing it in your living room, it might have looked weird. IKEA understood this pain point of prospective customers and made an app. This app with AR lets you drop a true-to-scale 3D model of furniture from the brand into your living room. Above all, customers like you can do this just using your phone.

With this app on your phone, you can walk around your space and see how the new furniture looks in your space from every angle. Here is why it works:

• It relieves customers of the guesswork in online furniture shopping
• It is easy to use, practical, and helpful.

The brand has used AR at its best. It gives customers the confidence they need before making a big purchase. It improves their real-world furniture shopping experience. This brand has smartly used AR in its digital marketing.

Nike x Snapchat – AR

Nike partnered with Snapchat to launch its limited edition sneakers using Augmented Reality. With the help of a special snapcode, users can experience an unboxing of the shoes in 3D. Moreover, they can try the shoes on virtually and can buy the shoes instantly without getting out of the application.

Why This Campaign Succeeded?

• It worked because it turned the product drop into an experience for customers.
• It played ideally into hype culture and the urgency of exclusivity

This digital marketing campaign merged immersive tech, e-commerce, and social media in one smooth flow. For brands that target mobile-first younger audiences, this campaign is a masterpiece in AR.

The North Face – Take A Virtual Adventure with VR

What can be a better marketing campaign than letting people virtually hike through for outdoor gear? Yes, The North Face lets prospective customers experience the outdoor gear by letting them virtually hike the Himalayas or Yosemite. They did the same with the help of VR Technology.

In selected stores, customers were provided the opportunity to put on a headset. Then, they were transported instantly into impressive outdoor landscapes. These are landscapes in which North Face gear will make people feel comfortable.

What Made This Campaign Memorable?

• The campaign has an emotional touch. Rather than selling gear, it sells the experience to buyers.
• It deeply connects adventure-lovers with the brand.

This is where VR in digital marketing shines. Yes, it is where storytelling happens. Rather than showing you something, VR puts you inside the story.

Pepsi Max – Unbelievable Bus Shelter AR

Pepsi Max installed an AR Screen in a regular London bus stop. This AR screen displayed a picture that looked like an alien invasion. Robots were blasting lasers, and tigers were running down the street. People waiting at the bus stop had no idea it was fake. They thought that it was happening right in front of their eyes.

Why This Campaign Became Viral?

• It created a share-worthy and unforgettable experience for those watching
• It turned a mundane situation into pure entertainment

With this campaign, the brand showed how AR can be used in guerrilla-style marketing to delight and surprise prospective customers. It also stands as proof that AR VR in digital marketing does not always have to be practical.

Sephora - Virtual Try-On AR

Some women intend to shop for makeup products online. However, most of them feel that it is a tough task. Thankfully, Sephora made this task easy with AR. With the help of your phone camera, you can try on different shades of foundation, eyeshadow, and lipstick. Finally, you can choose the shade that fits you well.

Why Is This Campaign A Great Idea?

• It gets rid of hesitation for online shopping for makeup products
• It increases conversion, reduces returns, and boosts confidence.

This campaign stands as yet another experience in which AR bridges the gap between in-store and online shopping. It is a crucial use case for beauty brands. Also, other industries have started adopting it recently.

Augmented vs Virtual Reality in Digital Marketing – Which One is Better?

It should be stated that there is no real winner between AR and VR. The purely relies on what you intend to achieve:

• For instance, you can rely on AR when you intend to make a digital marketing campaign that is interactive, accessible, and fast. It is ideal for marketing social media, mobile apps, and e-commerce platforms.
• You can use VR when you intend to transport people, simulations, to deliver training, or tell a rich story. This technology suits high-end retail, tourism, and real estate marketing.

The best part here is that you do not have to select one. The reason is that some of the best digital marketing campaigns these days bring together both of these technologies. These campaigns offer layered experiences for users at varied stages of the journey of buyer journey.

What Makes AR/VR Campaigns Effective?

Are you wondering what makes AR VR in Digital marketing successful? Here are some factors that contribute to the success:

• Shareable: Well-created AR and VR experiences are shared in huge numbers on social media.
• Memorable: In comparison with a banner ad, you are more likely to remember an experience, isn’t it?
• Personalization: When the digital marketing campaign is customized using AR and VR, the emotional connection improves.
• Interactive: People love to be a part of a story rather than watching it.

Final Thoughts – The Future is Immersive

AR and VR are not just trends in digital marketing. These technologies are turning out to be tools that reshape how brands connect with their audience. When a new technology gets into the market, it will be costly. But with time, it gets affordable. When this happens, we can expect more creative uses of AR/VR in digital marketing.

From walking through a virtual vacation before booking to trying on clothes in your bedroom, the line between physical and digital continues to blur. For marketers, AR and VR open a fresh world of innovation, engagement, and storytelling.

Customer engagement is one of the factors that motivates brands to use AR and VR in their digital marketing campaigns. In addition to customer engagement, AR and VR are changing how brands gather and process customer data and feedback. With immersive analytics, marketers can keep an eye on where users look and how long they interact with particular elements. Also, marketers can understand the actions taken by prospective customers in virtual environments. So, they can get richer insights in comparison with traditional metrics.

Moreover, 5G connectivity expands. With this expansion, AR and VR content will load quicker and run smoother. So, the real-time experiences will become more seamless. This opens the door for collaborative VR shipping experiences, virtual storefronts, and AR events. Above all, hardware becomes more accessible these days. So, we can expect small businesses to adopt AR VR in digital marketing. The playing field for them is leveled than ever before.