3 Creative Augmented Reality (AR) Award Winning Marketing Campaigns

Curious to learn how brands use AR (augmented reality) technology to design creative award-winning marketing campaigns?

Here are 3 creative augmented reality (AR) award-winning marketing campaigns for your inspiration

JFK MOONSHOT Campaign – Winner in Augmented Reality, at the 12th annual Shorty Awards

The JFK Moonshot campaign was launched in 2019 by the JFK Presidential Library & Museum to celebrate 50 years from the Apollo 11 Mission. The mission was the first spaceflight that landed humans on the Moon and one of the greatest technological achievements of the 20th century.

Seven years earlier, John Fitzgerald Kennedy gave his now-famous “We choose to go to the moon” speech in which he characterized space as a new frontier and outlined the pioneering spirit of the American nation.

We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.

John F Kennedy, “We choose to go to the Moon”

In 1969, almost 600 million people around the world tuned in to watch man’s first steps on the moon with excitement and awe. In 2019, thanks to its augmented reality-based campaign, the JFK Presidential Library & Museum prompted the same emotions of bewilderment and curiosity.

JFK Moonshot was a fully-synchronized augmented reality recreation of Apollo 11 where every moment, manoeuvre, and milestone unfolded in real-time, second-by-second.

Campaign challenge:

Celebrate 50 years from the launch of Apollo 11

JFK Moonshot Campaign features:

• Dedicated mobile app;
• Interactive AR games;
• Archival NASA footage;
• Educational multimedia experiences;
• a 363-foot, full-scale replica of the Saturn V rocket, one of the largest AR objects ever created;
• Livestreaming of the AR launch and entire mission on Twitch, the popular gaming platform.

Campaign viewers were invited to:

• Explore and launch an AR replica of the Saturn V rocket;
• Track 100+ hours of the Apollo 11 mission in real time with archival NASA footage;
• Play AR games designed to extend their knowledge of the mission with JFK-related trivia questions;
• Learn about JFK’s critical role in the moon landing through educational multimedia experiences;
• Record and share the mission’s most epic moments with friends and family;
• Practice their own moon landings with interactive AR games.

Campaign results:

1. 110,000+ rocket launches around the world;
2. 140,000+ downloads of the app;
3. 8x more social mentions than competitive museums;
4. 240,000,000+ global brand impressions;
5. An 11% increase related to JFK inspiring innovation.

ADIDAS ORIGINALS DEERUPT Campaign – Winner in Augmented Reality, at the 11th annual Shorty Awards

Adidas’ campaign, Originals Deerupt was created with a specific community in mind: the sneakerheads.

What is a sneakerhead? A sneakerhead is someone who collects, trades and or admires sneakers as a hobby. Sneakerheads see sneakers as status symbols and they are mostly Millennials and Generation Z-ers.

The sneakerhead culture began in the 1970s and the internet turned it into a global phenomenon. These days sneakers are like stocks and last year, Financial Times estimated the sneaker resale market close to US$2billion.

Some say the rarest and the most desirable sneaker ever made is the Nike MAG, the sneakers worn by Marty McFly when he time-travelled to 2015 in the Back to the Future II movie.

The biggest sneakerhead? The biggest sneakerhead is entrepreneur Miles Nadal, who spent more than US$1.2 million on a collection of rare sneakers in a sale managed by Sotheby’s last year. The collection includes a pair of 1972 Nike Waffle Racing Flat “Moon Shoes”, one of the most significant artefacts in Nike’s long history.

Campaign challenge:

Launch Deerupt in such a way to combat low-quality photos that emerge on the internet as a result of product leaks and democratize unboxing.

Adidas Originals Deerupt launch campaign features:

• The AR rendering of the DEERUPT;
• A dedicated mobile web platform that allowed Sneakerheads to use their smartphone cameras to see and interact with an AR rendering of the DEERUPT;
• Empty shoe boxes sent to high profile sneakerheads;
• In-store experiences around the world.

Campaign results:

1. 110 Million views;
2. 50,000+ virtual unboxings;
3. 123+ countries.

#ROMANOVS100 AR PHOTO ALBUM Campaign – Winner in Creative use of technology, the 12th annual Shorty Awards

#Romanovs100 is an educational project designed to bring to light a part of Russian history which has been erased from the history books by the Soviet rule. The Romanovs were Russia’s last Royal family, executed by the Bolsheviks 100 years ago.

The inspiration for this campaign came from the Romanovs themselves. They were pioneers of photography capturing almost every meaningful event in their lives with Kodak cameras, the world’s first portable cameras.

Fortunately, the Romanov archive has been preserved. The team unearthed over 4000 photographs which were adapted to digital formats allowing the campaign to make history easily accessible and engaging as well.

Campaign challenge:
Transform content to an interactive AR book which makes learning experiences an emotional journey into history.

Campaign features:

• 180° retro images in spherical view, 3D immersive experience;
• 42 short documentary-style videos;
• A limited print edition of the project using AR technology to create an interactive history book;
• Ambrotype posters – Photo teasers using 160-year-old ambrotype photography technique;
• Original soundtrack;
• Music video combining photos & VR Animation;
• The world’s first-ever digital colourization contest.

Campaign Results:

1. 25 million impressions;
2. 55,000 fans and followers;
3. +1 million post engagements;
4. +1 million video views;
5. 500,000 minutes watched;
6. #Romanovs100 on Twitter grew 2000%
7. Global media coverage: BBC Newshour, History Extra etc

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2019 Webby Awards – 3 Winners in Brand Strategy & Experience Marketing

Established in 1996, The Webby Awards is honouring the best of the internet.

The 23rd Annual Webby Awards received 13,000 entries from 70 countries and all 50 states and generated over 9 billion media impressions worldwide.

Here are 3 winning campaigns in the Brand Strategy & Experience Marketing categories:

1. Burger King – the Whopper Detour

The competition between Burger King and McDonald’s began over sixty years ago. With the advent of the internet, these two giant fast-food restaurant chains brought their rivalry into digital. Both Burger King and McDonald’s have entered the creative race where each of them is looking for the next most creative marketing campaign to earn media buzz, fans attention and sales.

The Whopper Detour campaign is a great example of beacon marketing.

Beacon marketing is a form of communication between brands and their consumers based on beacon technology.

You can read all about this technology here: How can Beacon Digital Marketing Help Your Retail Business Thrive?

Using this technology, Burger King essentially turned 14.000 McDonald’s locations into Burger King restaurants.

Pretty smart, right?

According to official statements, it took Burger King almost a year to prepare the promotion. The campaign is entirely reliant upon technology (beacon technology, the app) so it was vital to the campaign’s success that everything goes smoothly.

Campaign goal:

Get people to download the Burger King app.

Campaign results:

• 50.000 Twitter mentions;
• Going from #686 to #1 in the app charts in 48 hours;
• 1.5 million downloads in 9 days;
• 3.3 billion impressions;
• Mobile sales 3x during promotion and 2x after the promotion ended;
• Highest store traffic in 4 years.

The Whopper Detour campaign won in the Advertising & Media Category for Brand Strategy.

2. One Strange Rock – Astronaut Reality Brand Experience

One Strange Rock is a TV-series documentary filmed by Hollywood movie director Darren Aronofsky and hosted by Will Smith.

The documentary explores the fragility and wonder of planet Earth by following eight astronauts who share their unique perspective on our planet.

But this experience is quite exclusive, isn’t it? Only 536 people have been to space.

To launch the show, the team at McCann NY asked themselves the following question: what could we do to allow other people – people who will never be astronauts – to enjoy a similar experience?

Learn more: These 7 Brands Used Augmented Reality Creatively

To answer this question they came up with the Astronaut Reality Helmet, which provides users with one-of-a-kind VR space experience.

Campaign goal:

Raise media attention.

Campaign results:

• 312 million impressions;
• 47 pieces of press coverage;
• over 457 social shares;
• 1.27 billion readers online;
• One Strange Rock viewership was 13% higher than the channel’s non-fiction average performance.

The Astronaut Reality Brand Experience won the People’s Choice Award in the Experience Marketing category.

3. Carlings – ADDRESS_THE_FUTURE

There are digital influencers on Instagram with millions of followers promoting real-life clothes. Miquela, a non-human influencer is one example. 

How about real-life influencers promoting digital clothes?

Norwegian retailer Carlings took this idea and turned it into reality.

The brand designed a digital clothing line to illustrate its brand values: sustainability and fashion creativity. The clothing line is a collaboration between the brand and CGI model Perl and includes various fashion pieces: jeans, vests, jackets and coats at prices ranging between 10 euro to 30 euros.

With this digital line of clothes – called Neo-Ex, Carlings helps its customers share their style online – via 3D rendering – without leaving a negative footprint on the world.

With this project, we wish to challenge ourselves and the entire industry into taking the next step. We really believe it’s an interesting issue to address – do all clothes need to be physical?

Carlings

Campaign goal:

Raise awareness of water consumption in the clothing industry

Campaign results:

• +25 pieces of press coverage;
• +10k impressions for the Instagram post announcing the launch of the clothing line.

The ADDRESS_THE_FUTURE campaign won the Webby Award in the Experience Marketing category.

Your Marketing Campaigns are Less Effective

Your marketing campaigns are less effective. This article shows you why and how to drive campaign effectiveness.

As marketers and advertisers, it’s your job to reach out to your audience and let them know about your brand and your product. You are constantly looking for new and creative ways to talk to your audience with the purpose of turning them into leads and customers.

Latest statistics show that marketing campaigns have been delivering fewer results in the past years. According to IPA Databank report, Media in Focus – Marketing effectiveness in the digital era, campaign effectiveness has been decreasing starting with 2012.

IPA is the Institute for Practitioners in Advertising, the professional body which sets the protocols for the UK industry’s best practice standards.

4 Main findings of the Media in Focus report:

1. Broad-reach campaigns are still the best way to drive market share, which is in turn a key driver of profit;
2. The digital revolution has increased the potential effectiveness of most forms of marketing, including traditional media for firms that invest at the right level, and in the right way, mass marketing is working better than ever;
3. Video advertising, both on and offline, is the most effective brand-building form;
4. Within that, TV is still the most effective medium and has been getting more effective, in part due to synergies with online video.

Why are your campaigns less effective?

Les Binet, marketing effectiveness expert and co-author of the above-mentioned report has identified the following reason for campaign effectiveness taking a dive in the past years:

Brands running too many sales activation-based campaigns to the detriment of brand-building activities.

Binet’s research found that sales activation delivers short-term sales volume while brand-building campaigns lead to long-term growth and higher sales volumes.

Binet recommends that brands should run both types of campaigns but tweak the balance to 75% brand building and 25% activation.

The digital revolution is leading to increased activation efficiency and so a higher proportion should go to brand. It seems paradoxical, but what’s happening in the digital world means you need to build that brand even more.

Les Binet via cmo.com.au

How to drive campaign effectiveness

Here is how to drive campaign effectiveness according to ‘Media in Focus – Marketing effectiveness in the digital era’ report:

• Adopt a longer-term strategy;
• Focus on profit, not ROI;
• Ensure the right balance of brand building/sales activation expenditure

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sources:

https://ipa.co.uk/news/new-ipa-report-from-binet-and-field-reveals-key-ways-to-drive-campaign-effectiveness

https://www.cmo.com.au/article/646133/binet-digital-has-skewed-marketers-too-far-into-sales-driven-advertising/