Augmented Reality: What Is It, And How Can It Benefit Your Business 

Every company should always be on the look-out for new and innovative ways to increase customer interest in their products, whether you’re a small family-owned operation or a large production company. This is especially true if you are a craft brewery; having excellent beers is without a doubt the most critical part of being a successful brewery, but with so many craft breweries springing up it’s important to do something to make your brand stand apart from the crowd.

One such way of increasing brand awareness and recognition is through the use of Augmented Reality (AR) technology, which has recently seen a significant boost in popularity for both businesses and consumers thanks to its wide array of applications. In fact, many brands are turning to Augmented Reality as a means of giving their customers a more memorable experience with their products, which is why we are going to take the time to discuss how Augmented Reality can be used to increase brand awareness and user engagement for your business. We hope that you find this information helpful for understanding all the great benefits that can be gained by implementing AR as a meaning of marketing, promotion, and customer engagement. What is Augmented Reality? Augmented reality is, by definition, “a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world”.

Essentially, Augmented Reality is essentially real-world experience that is enhanced and made more interactive via augmentations (hence the term “augmented”) that are provided using computer-generated content. Initially, augmented reality was used only as a means of enhancing video game experiences, but the technology has since expanded to allow other businesses and industries to utilize it as well as a means of advertising and increasing product awareness. And not only can augmented reality help give businesses another medium for promotion (which we will discuss more in-depth momentarily) it can also help to expand and enrich the lives of consumers by giving them access to new ways of gaining information and learning about the products they are interested in, which will in turn encourage them to purchase those products. How Can Augmented Reality Change the Way Consumers Interact With Businesses? By implementing Augmented Reality as part of your marketing approach (by hiring the services of a professional AR firm like MENTA, for example, whose sole focus is providing excellent advertising and promotion through the use of AR technology), you will be able to increase customer interest in your products as well as boost user engagement. In fact, Augmented Reality is rapidly becoming one of the most highly sought after marketing mediums due to its incredible effectiveness in attracting customer interest and boosting product recognition.

Some Augmented Reality advertising campaigns can help increase customer interest by allowing them to examine products or gain additional information about those products before even setting foot in the store. This added utility, helpfulness, and ease of use has a way of increasing a brand’s overall popularity by a significant amount, which in turn can help attract even more new customers as people share their positive experiences with the company in question and their augmented reality campaign. Furthermore, some companies incorporate AR triggers into their product labels (which work by giving the consumer a unique AR experience when they scan the relevant portion of the label with their smart-phone or tablet) which can be used to engage a customer’s interest and convince them to purchase that product. This type of Augmented Reality campaign can also help to bring in new customers simply by virtue of implementing AR as a means of promotion and advertising. This is because augmented reality is still a relatively new medium and as such it draws a great deal of interest from people of all ages who are eager to find new AR experiences. One business that has successfully utilized Augmented Reality as a means of providing their customers with a unique experience is Reformation Brewery, a popular brewery (located in Woodstock, Georgia) that puts a strong emphasis on brewing high-quality craft beers that can help to enrich the lives of their customers and bring their community together. They are also particularly invested in using AR technology as a means of promoting interest in their upcoming series of rotating IPAs (where the recipe and brew changes for every batch), known as the Nolan Wandering IPA.

The Nolan Wandering IPA is a product created by Reformation Brewery in partnership with lifestyle company Wander North Georgia (which is focused on North Georgia communities and an outdoor lifestyle), and they are proud to announce that the Nolan Wandering IPA will replace Reformation Brewery's previous year-round brew, Atlas. Overall, the goal of this co-branded beer is to reform expectations about how IPAs are created and brewed by exploring the various malts, hops, and brewing processes throughout the world. For the Nolan Wandering IPA, AR technology is utilized to help tell the stories behind the various different brews. This can help to give customers an inside look at the concepts and ideas that inspired the creation of the Nolan Wandering IPA series and help them to feel more engaged with the product (and by extension more inclined to buy it).

Essentially, AR technology is being used to bring this brand to life for the people of Georgia. This is just one successful example for how Augmented Reality can be implemented as a means of promotion for a business. Whether you’re a large brewery that ships all around the world or a small craft brewery that puts an emphasis on unique high-quality beverages, there are many ways that AR can be utilized as a means of promotion for our brand. After all, part of attracting new customers (and keeping your old ones) is providing a unique experience that they cannot get elsewhere, and augmented reality technology is a truly excellent medium for achieving this.