This is a fantastic idea executed to perfection by Audi. In 2010 they didn’t create just another beautiful calendar, they created an unexpected experience! Yes, they printed the calender purely as landscape images, blank, no cars, nothing, and then prompted people to download the special iPhone app that would allow you to activate the calendar though an Augmented Reality feature to bring the images to life on your iPhone.
I love the idea, and the experience is fantastically unexpected. (via Bas on Blogilvy)
Is it just me, or are a lot of AR apps just a problem looking for a solution? I get the Tissot one, as some watches are much bigger in real life, so it’s great to research and virtually try things on. But this doesn’t strike me as anything more than a PRable bit of engagement exclusively for iPhone users. How many people actually interacted with it, downloaded a brochure or ordered a test drive, or even bought the car? (I’d love to be proved wrong with some numbers?) I know new technologies have push the boundaries, and Audi is a great pioneer that turns these sort of campaigns onto the mainstream eventually. But what about other phone users, and assuming you get the calendar from a dealer / prior Audi experience, how is this interaction going to drive new car users. Interested to see what others think – don’t get me wrong the execution looks great, but does it ultimately achieve anything on a significant scale?
When i read the description i think something new and awesome is coming my way. But what is it in the end? A calendar where you could see a car through a iPhone. And it didn’t look that good in the end even.
With some interaction in there with the car it could have been cool. But to call this “executed to perfection” is a big joke to me. Sorry.
Hey guys, lets take a step back for a moment…
Firstly, this is a calendar – it’s not meant to sell cars, book test drives or order brochures – thats what the website does. It’s meant to be a take home item that looks great and marks the date for you, sure, being branded Audi it helps build the brand and showcases the cars, but I can’t see much more or a strategic point in it than that.
Remember it could have just been paper!
So, yes, it’s slightly gimmicky, but this “idea” required people to download an app, which equals more brand engagement, more brand awareness and ultimately delivering an experience that a simple paper calendar couldn’t. Plus they will have pulled app usage stats out that is another major bonus.
Plus, I’m sure Audi (and Razorfish) did the research to see that the potential customer might have been more likely to have an iPhone (or perhaps they had an app for multiple phones)
Just my additional 2c anyway!
I think this is pretty cool. Yes it is a bit of a PR play for Audi… but how cool of a play?!?
Augmented reality is now just making its way into the mainstream and we will see implementations that are “simple” advertising/marketing plays and more sophisticated application uses that are targeted at main stream America (and the world).
My company is working very hard at being in the latter category, although we have been known to satisfy the needs of corporations as well
The end result, I believe, is that augmented reality is working its way towards ubiquity and the journey there is going to be exciting!
Stan Timek
Atomic Greetings
Not trying to pour cold water on the campaign Aden (As this is the forum for highlighting cool consumer engagement) but perspective is often missing from people (myself included) in this industry who live and breathe social media, early technology adoption, and digital brilliance (well, maybe I score low on the brilliance bit…)
It’s just when I speak to my mates who aren’t in this industry or the media at large, (The greater majority of advertisers’ potential consumers, I’d wager) they’re a lot more cynical about executions like this, as they often get over sold – a sentiment our friend Bat_fastard observes.. Now when’s the Pirelli calender coming out ;o)??
Great AR implementation. Love the minimalistic concept and great execution!
Hello,
I agree with the commentaries posted. It is a gadget and like most gadgets you often only use them once or twice even if you had to download the app.
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But Audi has some real fans also. Just look at their fan page on Facebook. For the ones who received the calendar (must be for top customers), it is a mark that the brand thinks about them and bring them a nice realization using new technologies (totally matching the brand image and their target) and that would probably surprise them. It is well executed and people always like to get stuff for free and to feel privileged.
The recipients of this calendar may also show it off to their colleagues fanatics like them, just to show an augmented reality app and what can be done with new technologies (or the beautifulness of the car
iPhone remains the main actor on smartphones and if they had to limit their audience, it was the right system to pick. But this limitation is maybe pity because I don’t think that Android and Audi are incompatible. But Aden has a point when he talks about grabbing app usage stats. Useful for the next projects!
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Aden,
The key word in your response is “required”. The problem with AR is that it asks too much of the customer. Yes, it’s cool. Yes, it’s engaging (sometimes). But in the end, there are just too many steps to make it an efficient marketing tool.
Someone’s going to engage with with once or twice, maybe, but certainly not once every month. If I had to guess, their response rate is going to equal that of direct mail.
And this calendar had damn well better sell some cars or do something that puts a customer in the consideration set. If AR is going to exists strictly as a novelty, then Razorfish has sold Audi a false bill of goods.
Don,
Great response, I agree. People will probably flick through every page on day one and never use the AR part again, but others might see it and ask for a demo, but by then, they’ve done their work anyway, you’ve download their app, they are collecting stats and they engaged you with the brand. It’s more than any other calendar can do, and that’s on the first day…
But yes, AR in general is limited by the customer, their hardware and in this case the additional requirement to download an app. AR, while hugely powerful and potentially potent, has a number of boundaries for any marketer. I’d expect low response rates from most AR based campaigns, but that engagement would generally be very high, and while it’s still new, it has a great PR factor and social factor.
I’d love to see the stats off this, and to see exactly what Razorfish sold it in as
Waste of money – look at all the effort required and for what reward? Hard to find many examples of AR that are actually useful.
What a great example of the power of augmented reality. Love Audi’s calendar idea. Create suspense. Build buzz. Tap into the voyeuristic nature of humans. Good stuff.
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