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AR continues to evolve and take shape. Like other tech sectors, it has spawned several sub-sectors that comprise an ecosystem. These include industrial AR, consumer VR, and AR shopping. Existing alongside all of them – and overlapping to some degree – is AR marketing.
Among other things, AR marketing includes sponsored AR lenses that let consumers visualize products in their space. This field – including AR creation tools and ad placement – could grow from $4.7 billion in 2023 to $11.8 billion in 2028 according to ARtillery Intelligence.
Factors propelling this growth include brand advertisers’ escalating affinity for, and recognition of, AR’s potential. More practically speaking, there’s a real business case. AR marketing campaigns continue to show strong performance metrics when compared with 2D benchmarks.
How is this coming together? And what are best practices? These questions were tackled in a recent report by our research arm, ARtillery Intelligence, including narrative analysis, revenue projections, and campaign case studies. It joins our report excerpt series, with the latest below.
Sarcastic & Self-Depricating
Silk produces plant-based food products including non-dairy beverages, creamers, and yogurt alternatives. It’s best known for its soy milk. With the goal of boosting awareness for its new Silk Oat product in fun and interactive ways, it looked to lens-based AR marketing.
Silk’s AR campaign was built on the theme of being the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time). It positioned the Silk Oat product to hold this designation in a playful way. AR lenses prompted users to “show the world what you’re the G.O.A.T. of,” including naming the attribute, then activating the filter.
The selfie filter transformed the user’s face into an oat-crowned Roman bust with “G.O.A.T.” engraved (see it in action here). This was meant as a sharable moment with sarcastic or self-deprecating undertones. For example, reminding friends about one’s quirks or odd behavior.
To do this, Silk set up a two-cell brand lift study. The first cell consisted of non-interactive ads and Stories on Facebook and Instagram, showing celebrities and influencers using the AR filter. The second cell featured the same ads, plus the option to activate the AR effect.
Humor & Virality
And the result? Silk achieved a 9.2-point lift in ad recall for the AR-enabled cell. It also saw a 2.3-point lift in brand awareness for the AR-enabled cell, and a 2.6-point lift in brand awareness among 18–24-year-olds. It drew 30,700 engagements and an 11.5-second average dwell time.
How did it achieve these results? There are a few best practices to point to. For one, Silk demonstrated that AR can boost brand awareness compared to non-interactive equivalents. It also showed that AR can be an effective awareness medium when launching a product.
Furthermore, Silk demonstrated that AR’s whimsical qualities can be conducive to influencer marketing by jumpstarting a lens’ viral appeal. The lens engendered a self-deprecation vibe, as noted, that added to its humor and virality. AR should lean into these qualities when possible.
Lastly, this campaign demonstrates AR’s versatility. Not only can it achieve a wide range of brand goals across the purchase funnel – from upper-funnel reach to lower-funnel conversions – but it’s working across a range of product categories. We can now add oat milk to the list.
Header image credit: Hjalte Gregersen on Unsplash
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