BRINGING YOUR CAMPAIGN TO LIFE – LITERALLY
‘Seeing is believing’– the old adage goes. If you need someone to believe something, the chances are better if they can see it. This increases drastically if your target audience can experience it.
Enter Imajinn, a technology-based distribution company for the media and communications industry.
“Augmented Reality (AR) is a method of mixed reality where live video and 3D virtual components merge to make an interactive experience,” explains Imajinn’s MD Paul Ingram. Paul says by using standard webcams and AR software any image can be converted into the anchor for the 3D holographic content.
What is it?
The conversion is achieved by using image recognition and motion tracking. The software can be loaded on to an existing website or be downloaded for use on laptops or cell phones.
In layman’s terms AR is augmenting live video by altering and adding 2D or 3D. The software instructs the webcam which image to identify and generates the 3D content onto a viewable item. The image moves as the viewer moves the item. Content is interactive enabling the viewer to, for example, change the colour of a car. “Practically anything is possible,” says Ingram.
“The software was used in the movie Avatar,” Paul explains. “The producer waited 11 years for the technology allowing humans to be augmented. By using augmentation real personality is added to the characters.”
Successful campaigns
Campaigns implemented by Imajinn include Kellogg’s and Nissan Juke. Kellogg’s used an AR recognisable image on its cereal box for its target market to play a virtual game. The application was used in stores and online. All participating stores sold out of the product within a week. Conventional marketing methods were used in other stores. Sales for stores which made use of the software increased by 223% compared to those using conventional marketing methods.
For Nissan Juke Paul says the company set a pre-order target of 500 units. “Making use of AR in its campaign achieved in excess of 1 000 pre-orders.”
Use and advantages
The software can be used in conjunction with most mediums. “There are no limits,” says Ingram. “It can be used on print, packaging, bill boards, computers, cell phones, TV and radio if linked to the station’s website.”
AR can be added to any existing ad campaign, unlike similar technologies which have to be built around one. “AR can be added to an existing ad without affecting the design in any way,” says Ingram.
“It is relatively expensive,” Paul concludes. “However, one needs to take the target market into account, the extended reach and the fact that sales for products using AR exceed those that don’t.”
Paul says that 2010 statistics reveal that AR is one of the top 10 disruptive (audience stopping power) technologies in the world and is rated among the top five social media in existence.
Imajinn has exclusive distribution rights for the African continent.
AR was developed by Total Immersion.
*Examples of AR in action can be viewed atwww.imajinn.co.za. Additional information from Paul 011 513 7700.
