The opportunities that emerging technology offers for packaging design are intriguing. The concept of packaging has evolved from a basic physical item.
It has now opened doors to new experiences, new approaches to brand storytelling, and new opportunities to engage and inform consumers. One of the reasons behind this is the implementation of the fantastic technology of Augmented Reality.
In particular, Augmented Reality is adding new dimensions to packaging that simply weren’t possible before. Any packaging is given a whole new, practically infinite dimension via AR.
Branding experts anticipate that marketers will continue to adopt augmented reality packaging more and more.
Why? Simply because it’s a very alluring, enjoyable, and educational approach that brands can use to engage customers and boost sales.
Before we talk about the different brands using AR for packaging, let’s first talk about its advantages.
Advantages that AR Packaging Offers
When applied to product packaging, AR offers significant benefits to brands:
- It improves the experience for customers.
- It increases brand loyalty
- It gives the company a competitive edge.
- It offers fresh channels for reaching out to customers.
The packaging is frequently a consumer’s initial point of contact with a product, and Augmented Reality (AR) can improve this crucial facet of the user experience. It also offers an established means for conveying important messages regarding the product.
Although it’s still far from common, Augmented Reality is becoming more prevalent in product packaging. Brands are more likely to obtain a competitive edge in the market if they adopt it as soon as possible.
Lead generation is another benefit of AR in packaging. The key to doing this is gathering pertinent data. AR can give businesses a direct line of communication with consumers to collect digital data. This enables brands to make a sale without being intrusive about it.
Things a Brand can Include in AR Packaging
Augmentation broadens the marketing field beyond the product’s physical packaging. So, designers and marketing strategists no longer feel limited by the dimensions and available room for messages on the packaging itself.
Following are some of the ways a brand can include in their packaging:
- Educational and entertaining videos (for example, 3D virtual tours of goods production, videos on the brand’s history, etc.)
- Recipes or suggestions involving the product
- Having immediate access to social media so the consumers can take part in a survey or conversation
- View a product from all sides, both inside and out, and without having to open the package, look inside.
- Additional plug-ins like WebAR games, competitions, 3D mazes, etc.
Use Cases of Vossle’s AR Experiences for the Packaging Industry
Get inspired by how these clever brands have embraced Augmented Reality tech to blow minds whilst building brand love.
Your product’s packaging is one of the most important — and often underutilized — spaces for generating interest and fostering long-term loyalty. By leveraging AR tech directly on your packages, you can create experiences that keep customers coming back to your brand again and again.
Product packaging is just one of the many incredible use cases for AR. Learn more about what brands like yours are doing with augmented reality technology.
WebAR Game
Vossle created a WebAR game as part of an AR packaging for a popular candy brand.
Using the power of AR, the users were transported to the brand’s treasure island environment to hunt for the elusive candies; to a cricket pitch to show off their bowling prowess; or to play the retro snake game in their real environment.
Each packet of the product enabled endless engagements by evoking conversations with the consumers and transporting them to the exciting, spatial, and immersive world.
Informative Packaging
As part of the launch of its all-new range, a leading baby essentials brand partnered with Vossle to create a WebAR product demo for a new diaper release.
The experience, which was triggered by a QR code featured on the product, unlocked a fun and interactive demonstration of the product’s key features.
By implementing the immersive WebAR-based demo through Vossle’s AR packaging, the brand was able to add to its green initiatives by minimizing product and resource wastage.
Tradition Meets Technology
As part of its breakfast convenience range, a food brand brought together age-old flavors in an effortless manner. To help reposition this traditional product to a younger audience while emphasizing authentic flavors and ease of preparation — Vossle used WebAR to create a bite-sized gamified engagement.
The gameplay was created as a minute engagement to keep the user engaged while the product got prepared. Taking a cue from popular culture, the game was designed to excite and talk to the millennial user in a manner native to them.
The use of traditional vessels in the gameplay to depict the product helped reinforce product authenticity. The simple single-finger action helped build on the quotient of ease.
The experience further helped build social virality by encouraging users to challenge their friends across platforms. Users were also gratified for their engagement with a special discount offer they could redeem on the brand website.
Innovative Marketing
To try to make one of their products a fun experience for their customers, a food brand that produces chips collaborated with Vossle to experiment with AR. The idea was simple- a scanner at the back of the chips’ packet.
On scanning, the customers were presented with a 3D model of a chips packet with some chips flowing outside in a fun and interesting manner. The customers were then presented with an offer that emerged from the chips packet (like 2GB mobile data, etc.)
Luxurious Advertisement
We helped a popular perfume brand create a beautiful, immersive and different AR experience wherein the AR showed one of their perfumes beautifully with melody playing along with the experience.
The buyers can scan the packaging and be presented with the 3D model of the perfume bottle with flowers flowing around it.
The goal was to show customers that the business is making an effort to provide them with the best possible customer experience.
Some Major Brands Using AR Packaging
Amazon
Amazon released Amazon AR Player, an augmented reality app, with a packaging tie-in last year. For a brief period, boxes printed with a pumpkin shape on the side were used to ship Amazon orders.
Customers may use the Amazon AR Player app to scan a QR code after drawing a face of their choice on the pumpkin to bring their creation to life in augmented reality. They then had the option to alter the pumpkin’s color and add digital accents to it.
Additionally, users could take a selfie with the pumpkin design covering their face by using their smartphone camera.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of many well-known companies that has experimented with packaging that supports augmented reality. Its “Faces of the City” campaign in China is one such case.
The brand collaborated with an illustrator to develop 23 distinct ‘can designs’ that were meant to capture the essence of 23 major Chinese towns. Customers could use a specific app to scan the cans to start an AR experience that brought the designs of each can to life.
Additional activities such as trivia games, personality tests, and maps were also activated by scanning the cans.
Cadbury
A tried-and-true method of generating excitement and counting down to Christmas is the advent calendar. Cadbury developed an AR advent calendar-themed “Winter Wonderland” to make this more special.
With a specific app, users could scan the calendar with their smartphones and see advent come to life with interactive AR elements, including 24 festive selfie filters with a Cadbury theme that was released every day until Christmas.
To further spread the holiday cheer, after unlocking these filters each day of Advent, users could share their most incredible and funniest selfies with friends and family.
Conclusion
Studies showed that in this digital era, while brands have stepped into eCommerce, the need for innovative marketing ideas is needed the most.
In fact, according to a study, 84% of the customers believe that it is vital that the company implements innovations.
Customers are more likely to purchase products from innovative businesses and are willing to pay more. What can be more inventive than making the packaging of a brand an immersive experience for customers!
You too can use AR and its solutions to give your brand a significant boost and increase your customers’ experience. Also, implementing AR with Vossle is easier than you think.
On Vossle you can create any WebAR experience such as AR Packaging in less than a minute and without any prior knowledge of coding. You can be as creative as you want and our team of experts will be there to help you in case you need any. Get started today at https://vossle.com.
