New research from Forrester predicts that augmented reality (AR) will offer more opportunities than virtual reality (VR) for marketers over the next three years.
Forrester’s Thomas Husson believes this is because AR is a more natural extension of existing mobile behaviors and does not require the use of new and expensive equipment, offering more marketing use cases and a broader reach.
Key takeaways from the latest report include:
* Apple will unlock AR opportunities for marketers. Apple’s new AR technologies will enable marketers to easily integrate AR into existing apps and more deeply engage the significant audience using Apple devices. Other major players like Google and Facebook are also developing AR solutions that marketers can leverage.
AR will bridge online and offline experiences. Combined with other technologies, AR will sense and interact with our environment and provide the physical context required for more personalised consumer experiences. This online/offline interaction will serve as a fount of marketing innovation going forward.
Marketers are still unprepared to reap the rewards of AR. Due to the prior relative immaturity of the AR ecosystem, marketers have not been paying attention to AR and therefore are not yet ready to make the most of this emerging but disruptive technology. To maximise the potential of AR, marketers should look to strategically integrate the technology into evolving customer experiences, and they should design experiences that add value throughout the consumer life cycle.