More and more companies are integrating technology into their marketing strategies in pursuit of individuality, memorability, and building an enjoyable environment for their customers. As marketers pursue new ways to communicate with their target customers, creating apps and branded video games have almost become the norm.
Not everyone, however, has the means or the patience to build software as complex and challenging as an app. Applications need money, a developer team, teamwork, continuous back-and-forth, tweaking, fixing bugs, checking, and so much more. There are faster, more painless ways of having all the advantages of an app without any of the problems, and one of them is the Web AR. There are lots of augmented reality courses available online; you can become an augmented reality expert by enrolling in one.
Learning of Blog
- What is WebAR?
- Top WebAR Examples
- Final Word
We have put together a list of the top 2020 WebAR experiences to show what the technology has to bring.
What is WebAR?
WebAR stands for ‘augmented reality based on the web.’ It is an experience in augmented reality that does not require the user to download an app and install it on their smartphone. As the own name declares, it is all based on the internet, and so it is simpler to execute on a wide-scale than a regular program.
In the case of WebAR, opening a website URL on your smartphone (iOS or Android) and enabling your camera to enter the AR experience is all a user has to do.
Especially in this COVID-19-riddled world where live events are often canceled, and social distancing has become the standard, the capacity of WebAR is unlimited.
Top WebAR Examples
Compared to AR promotions distributed by native software or social AR, the distribution potential alone was enough to transform the heads of brands. From the likes of Nestle to Bandai Namco, all looked to free themselves from smartphones and social media and envision more smooth executions through the mobile network.
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Mission Tiger
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes launched a WebAR initiative as part of their ‘Mission Tiger’ initiative to teach audiences about their work in schools to promote the sport. The experience was built to encourage children, through mini-games and fun face filters for social sharing, to engage in the brand’s mission. Kelloggs used a custom branded splash screen to immerse players, with links to the games and more detail on Kellogg’s programs, in the interactions from the beginning.
Toyota
When it launched its web-based advertisement initiative in virtual reality, Toyota made headlines in the advertising world this year. The advertisement featured the Corolla’s 2020 model and allowed consumers to see in their surroundings a life-size model of the vehicle. By clicking the simulated car at different locations, users may also learn more about the vehicle’s capabilities. Immersive simulations could be witnessed, such as opening the moonroof, operating the headlights, and spinning the wheels. Toyota has emerged as the first automobile brand to support web-based AR advertising, supplying its audience with a fantastic brand experience without the need to launch a separate app.
Beiersdorf and NIVEA SUN
In order to demonstrate the wellness and sustainability characteristics of their sun cream company, NIVEA SUN, Beiersdorf developed a shopping experience. This web-based experience provides a comprehensive 360-degree tour of the brand’s offering, providing consumers with knowledge on where NIVEA produces its products as well as the health benefits.
At the point of sale, accessing the data serves to educate the buyer when they shop, leading them through the past of the product and business.
Solucan
The can printing company Solucan launched “Scan the Can” with the global effect of COVID-19 rendering the planet a little darker this year, partnering with Ô Quai des Brasseurs, Kombuchanv, and Le Temps d’une Pinte labels and with the aid of musician John Forest, with the rainbow face-filter experience. The once famous rainbow itself, the universal symbol of healthcare after the pandemic, included items from participating microbreweries.
TIME – “Landing on the Moon”
This one is the latest in recent times among a host of AR / VR applications by famous brands. To offer a boost to its multimedia journalism, TIME magazine recently released its AR / VR app. They produced the Apollo 11 landing on the moon in VR to kickstart the mission and delivered it as their first AR / VR plot.
First Man
One of the first films that made use of Web AR in their advertisement was the movie First Man, starring Ryan Gosling. And as they used the actual moon itself as an AR marker to cause the encounter, they did so with some elegance!
To cause a visually spectacular experience of the Apollo 11 launch, all a user had to do was open the URL and aim their smartphone at the sky. Users were able to tap the moon to transport themselves to the moon in front of the Apollo 11 flag and the American flag.
They could also visit the NASA Mission Control center, where they could look at different control panels, dials, schematics, orders, etc. The entire experience was totally original and immersive and set a new benchmark for virtual reality for film marketing.
Purina
This is one of the lesser-known examples of Web AR, but a clever one, as it demonstrates how brands can use augmented reality to tell a story and inform their clients through interactive instructions. Users can pick their pet from the welcome screen in the experience and see it come alive in their room. Then, as the pet goes about hopping and having fun, during the 28-day period of using the Purina formula, consumers hear about different indicators of safe pets.
Final Word
Augmented reality has stuck under the shadows and hype of virtual reality for the longest time. VR’s absolutely immersive nature made it a fascinating technology where everybody seemed to be pleased by it. However, VR has struggled to take off as everyone predicted, with its focus on headset systems whose price range is still out of bounds for an ordinary consumer and its features restricted to entertainment and gaming.
As predicted by augmented reality experts, AR has now arisen for corporations and individuals alike as a source of attraction. AR has quickly spread into the mainstream, be it games such as Pokemon Go, Snapchat’s face filters, or the widely useful IKEA app & many other examples of AR being effectively introduced in industries for training purposes.