Nowadays, the demand for products and services tends to be saturated by an increasingly wider supply and lower costs.
Consumers are more and more willing to enjoy a new purchasing process based on experience: rather than spending on goods or services, they are increasingly inclined to spend more on memorable shopping experiences.
They want to be involved, looking for something different and more stimulating that can make them feel emotionally involved. Given the variety of brands in an increasingly competitive market, each with its own appealing image and message, this is where packaging plays a key role in attracting the consumer’s attention and being strategic for the purchase.
AUGMENTED REALITY IN PACKAGING
Considered as the new frontier of experiential marketing, Augmented Reality (AR) offers the possibility for companies to revolutionize the packaging of their products, create new ways of interaction and communication and unique and immersive experiences.
Thanks to Augmented Reality, digital information is overlaid in real time to the surrounding world to offer interactive and immersive experiences.
For example, by simply framing a QR Code on a product packaging, Augmented Reality conveys information about the product beyond those already present on the packaging. Consumers can access videos, images, text, audio, 3D animations, games, websites and more, creating a portal directly on the product to make the user experience more interactive and engaging.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF PACKAGING
The evolution of technology has turned packaging into a two-way communication platform between the consumer and the supply chain, resulting in a major contribution to achieve sustainable development goals.
The development of innovative packaging solutions also allows the communication of the brand’s authenticity and environmental commitment, conveying useful information on the product’s origin, transportation and preservation. This is known as “talking” packaging, which uses innovative technologies to share real-time information about the product: in the case of Food, for example, to optimize storage and preserve the quality by improving traceability.
As Barbara Del Curto, Scientific Director of the Food Sustainability Observatory, said, the new technologies allow packaging ‘to speak’ to the various players in the supply chain, helping and promoting sustainable and responsible behavior. In fact, product information makes it possible to increase transparency, improve the management of all stages, and extend the consumer experience beyond the mere purchasing and consumption phase.
It will also be possible to facilitate food management and waste prevention and, at the same time, convey good practices in consumption and disposal of waste or packaging.
THE BENEFITS OF AUGMENTED REALITY FOR PACKAGING
The various applications of AR in consumer goods packaging lead to several benefits, including:
- Consistent real-time data analysis to provide measurable results;
- Easy and cost-free printing solutions: AR will be applied directly on packaging without the need for ad-hoc print production
- Increased awareness and curiosity about the product
- Increased consumer engagement with the brand: the user will become more attached to the brand thanks to AR’s ability to augment packaging content with videos, information, storytelling, etc;
- Increased visibility and improved brand reputation;
- Optimisation of the sales process;
- Higher differentiation from competitors: through AR, companies are able to convey marketing campaigns more effective than competition.
To summarize, one of the challenges companies are facing today is to revolutionize the way they communicate with consumers, to boost engagement and retention.
AR is becoming more and more effective in the world of packaging, delivering better results and engaging a user base more and more digitized and used to new technologies.
AR Market has in-depth expertise in the use of AR and immersive technologies to create new business solutions for current and potential customers.
Visit our website to get an overview of what we do and what you can achieve by partnering with us!
