Facebook Goes To The Red Carpet With Live Video For American Music Awards – Noticing a trend yet with Live Video broadcasts with integrated real-time commenting (i.e. Social TV)?
Since Augmented Reality (AR) is pretty much everywhere right now, I thought it might be time to point out some actual ‘useful’ AR that falls under the Utility category. Brand awareness and word of mouth has it’s place for AR, but Utility is where AR will make it’s greatest impact. Utility-based AR is in a very unique position where (if used properly) it can drive innovative and sustained engagement between a brand and a consumer.
The following list is by no means all inclusive, but these are a few examples of Utility-Based AR currently out there. Not just a video or concept, but a working example you can use right now. I also often cite these examples when asked how AR can rise above the current gimmicks being used in the marketing and advertising worlds…
This execution is quite simple. Print out the marker, tape it to your wall and see how the Samsung TV will measure out for placement on that same wall.
This application uses AR to overlay images of clothing on an individual to enhance the online shopping experience. Motion capture also adds ability to stand from computer and navigate controls. (Disclosure: Zugara created this application…)
Not an example of AR you would initially think of but brilliant once you understand how it works. This mobile AR app allows you to see how the sun is positioned at any time during any day of the year. This then shows you how sunlight would fall into your bedroom (for new home shoppers), where to plant a garden, etc.
HONORABLE MENTION
LEGO
Though this is technically not utility-based it’s still very effective and great use of AR at retail. How can any father resist purchasing this for their child after seeing the Lego’s build out?
Those are my top 5. If you have any others, add them in the comments and we’ll post them on the site (if they’re actually utility-based or you can make a strong enough argument for it
Was just turned onto this video in a meeting less than an hour ago…unreal and one of the best audio/video edits I’ve ever seen…DJ Earworm out of San Francisco edits top pop videos together for a rather unique mix…
Via an earlier Techcrunch article, Shakira just livestreamed her latest music video via Ustream and Facebook. This is another major artist helping to validate both Social TV and the livestream format. I’m sure U2′s recent live concert on YouTube made this decision easier (10 million streams might do that), but 2009 is definitely shaping up to be the year the masses started embracing Social TV – at least online. What will be interesting is to see how Traditional Media tries to screw this up…
Mental_floss Blog has a good round-up of some recent winners of Branded YouTube Contests here. Overall, it’s interesting to see quality work that can rise to the top for these types of contests. We’ve posted in the past some of the keys to having a successful Brand Contest on YouTube – #1 of which is and always will be prizing (as related to the effort involved). With the recent onslaught of Crowdsourcing in the Advertising and Marketing worlds, it will be important to remember this little detail.
On another note, though this post is about the winning videos for Branded YouTube Contests, I did want to throw in that approximately 75-80% of the entries we’ve received in the past for video contests are pure crap. There’s a reason why Amateur Video is called Amateur. With that said though, it’s always refreshing to come across a few diamonds among the dung when reviewing all the videos. I posted 2 of the winning videos below from a Casio Exilim Branded YouTube Contest we did a few years back and these are typical of the ‘diamonds’ you’ll fine with these UGC contests…
We Are Organized Chaos (WAOC) is Zugara’s (www.zugara.com) interactive marketing and advertising blog where we’ll be featuring some great projects and discussing upcoming trends in the digital world. Work — good and bad — will be critiqued. Hope you’ll enjoy reading our insights and thoughts on interactive.
