Vision Pro Is a Mixed Reality Milestone—Here’s What It Means for Brands

“This is perhaps one of the most hotly anticipated product launches in recent years,” says our VP, Interactive Projects Simon Joseph. “It not only gives credit to the field of augmented and mixed reality, but also to its staying power and the potential for the future to come. For the era of spatial computing and AR, this is only just beginning, and we are so excited to see where it goes from here.”   

Anyone who has ever dabbled in augmented reality (AR) knows that it’s a powerful tool for capturing people’s attention and standing out in a crowded market by seamlessly blending digital content with the physical world through visual overlays, engaging audio and motion control. Parallel to the metaverse’s rise in the cultural consciousness, these immersive features are proving advantageous to brands who aim to shine in an abundance of content, stuffed social feeds and crowded app ecosystems. On top of that, the technology promises to evoke truly memorable and emotional responses in consumers. 

Innovations across the board are helping AR advance at speed.

Compared to consumers, brands have been slower to recognize AR’s practical use. Data from Snap and Ipsos shows that 90% of brands think AR is primarily for fun, while only 57% of consumers think of it that way, instead seeing potential in activities such as shopping. As a trio of technological forces—not just hardware, but also software and heightened connectivity—converge to enable a new breed of AR experiences, we believe brands will realize AR’s potential across the customer journey. 

New AR headsets are gaining interest and intrigue—there will be over 1.7 billion active AR devices worldwide in 2024, and 18 million AR/VR headsets will ship this year—but software like visual positioning systems will also greatly enhance multiplayer digital experiences on mobile devices. Moreover, 5G Advanced is set to improve speed, coverage, mobility and power efficiency, which means no latency and no more cache limitations as people will stream high-quality experiences in real time. 

The fact that AR experiences will become more easily accessible for consumers is great news for brands, because AR’s value extends from the top to the bottom of the sales funnel. Research from WARC found that “AR ads capture the attention of broad audiences who are early in their purchase journey, with a +7% increase in aided ad recall among this group of consumers. And AR can help brands nudge consumers who are in the consideration phase by making the brand seem more up-to-date and differentiated.” 

Dive in head first to get ahead.

Time has shown that early adopters can reap first-mover rewards, and the present moment offers brands a chance to get ahead: with the launch of new hardware comes a new app marketplace, and early explorers of AR are primed to benefit from being quick to take the plunge. That said, effectively introducing AR into your customer experience journey requires careful consideration—questions around the medium, culture fit, and collaborating with vendors are bound to come up—so here are some chief concerns marketers should consider in setting themselves up for success.

For starters, find out whether immersive AR experiences will excite your audiences. To understand how AR might make sense for your brand, follow the “jobs to be done” framework, an important tool for assessing any innovation. Consider customer needs and the motivations that drive them, as well as the circumstances in which they achieve them. 

Furthermore, make sure you take advantage of the medium. Whether you’re aiming to drive powerful immersion through interactive content or overlay real-world contexts with useful information, the medium determines the benefits. That’s why it’s important to carefully plan how certain benefits from AR can help your brand achieve its goals. 

Finally, explore other tools that aid AR development. Thanks to software kits and frameworks, creating AR experiences has never been easier—and with new urgency to develop immersive 3D content, various AI-powered tools have emerged to streamline content creation. Nvidia’s Instant NeRF allows teams to quickly create digital doubles of photographed objects, while Stability for Blender adds the force of Stable Diffusion to 3D software and Unity AI leverages the power of Unity game engine and large language models by building entire scenes based on a written prompt.

It’s time to break the mold and trust the potential of AR. 

AR is an undeniably powerful tool for brands to connect with their audiences. Through immersive and interactive experiences, this technology is transforming the traditional customer journey, offering a blend of entertainment and utility that captures people’s attention and drives engagement. Several brands are already shaping the future of consumer engagement. By exploring the vast possibilities of AR, addressing key considerations, and leveraging innovative technologies, your brand can unlock the full potential of the technology, too, cementing your position as a leader in this rapidly evolving landscape.