Augmented reality, mobile apps make printing interactive.

By Erik Cagle

Case Studies: Augmented Reality and Mobile

Make Some Noise, Wisconsin!

Ripon Printers, Ripon WI

Carol Cluppert, marketing director for Ripon Printers, notes the intention of the campaign was to demonstrate to clients and prospects how a printed piece can come alive and be more interactive, allowing their end customers to learn more about the company and its products. In particular, she says Ripon wanted to show its customers how AR could bring new life to their publications and direct mail materials.

Campaign Description: “We looked at many potential options to demonstrate AR, from showing a video to creating a 3D image of an item. Since our previous postcard in an ongoing series made reference to our customers being ‘Rock Stars,’ we decided to play off that theme and incorporate music and animation into the new postcard. Once we came up with the concept, we enlisted an outside party to help us create the animation.

“We also felt we would have better response if we offered an incentive, so we provided the opportunity to download a white paper on the communications revolution, as well as receive a free CD of the musical group featured in the animation. Putting all the pieces together was fairly easy. Recipients scanning a QR code were directed to download a program called Junaio, which allowed them to view the animation and get the full effect of the piece.

“Our goal is to send out a direct mail piece monthly, so this campaign worked as one of the campaign pieces. We try to send a direct mail piece that will catch our customer’s or prospect’s eye and provide ideas they can use to make their own campaigns more effective.”

Campaign Performance: “We received several requests via a landing page we created for those who wished to download the white paper and order the free CD. Because this technology is so new, we feel it may have been overlooked by some people as just another piece with a QR code. Several of our sales staff have taken the piece on visits and actually demonstrated how the piece works. This has met with positive reactions and lead to more questions.”

Did the AR Spike Customer Engagement?: “Yes, I believe the piece has brought Ripon Printers into the spotlight a bit more because AR is fairly new and many people are still processing how they can use it in their printed materials. AR can definitely make a printed piece more relevant and keep it from landing in the trash.”

Did the Campaign Meet Expectations?: “Because this was our first AR piece, we weren’t sure what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised by the positive responses we have received. When we run our next piece, we will be sure to build more advance hype so that recipients will be on the lookout for the mailing and have greater awareness that we’re not simply featuring QR codes. But the entire experience has helped increase our own awareness of marketing with AR and will make us better advisors to our customers.”

The Retiring Type

Access Images (FLM Graphics) Fairfield, NJ

The Access Images (AI) team, led by Senior Vice President Alex Piqueira and Director John Gagliardi, worked closely with a large global investment, retirement and insurance group to help develop a series of interactive multi-channel engagement solutions that will add an interactive digital component to their marketing initiatives. These initiatives will be deployed and accessible through various company-sponsored programs and trade show events scheduled throughout the year.

The solutions will be developed in a way so that they can be edited and scaled to fit the needs of these sponsored programs and events in the future, reducing costs for later engagements. All components of the plan were developed by Access Images.

Campaign Description: Access Images developed a call-to-action marketing campaign and all of its creative in an effort to help drive prospective and existing customers to its client’s trade show booths. The idea was to stress the idea that it is never too late to start the retirement process, and that (end users) should contact AI’s retirement strategies client to learn more information.

Prior to the trade show, AI sent out a series of personalized e-mail blasts informing the client’s target database of booth location, seminar topics and location, and access to fun tools to use during the event via a mobile Website experience—all driving foot traffic and engagement back to the booth. All creative had the same taglines and message throughout to maintain consistency. URLs and QR codes were strategically placed within these communications pieces and could be tracked by Access Images’ analytic programs to measure the open rates of the segmented communication deployments, as well as show who clicked what URL or scanned what QR code.

Banners developed by AI, which included the creative and message, as well as separate URL and QR codes, were strategically placed throughout the event location. Access Images also created a mobile, browser-based experience that was programmed and optimized for all devices. This process, according to Piqueira, was supported by responsive Web design and device interrogation, making the Website experience uniform, regardless of the device. All of the URLs and QR codes used in the e-mail, direct mail and on the banners directed users back to this mobile experience.

The mobile engagement contained content regarding new promotions, planning for retirement information, contest entry form, FAQs, seminar information, requesting an insurance checkup, sharing with a friend, among other features, as well as the ability to download a pass from Apple’s Passbook or from Android’s Wallet.

Android and iPhone users were able to add a customer-specific branded Pass to their mobile wallet, which is pre-installed on the individual’s device. There were many ways for the attendees to acquire the Pass; clicking on the URL within the pre-show e-mail campaign, scanning a branded QR code at the event, or downloading it from the banner ad on the mobile engagement site. This process also gave Access Images’ customer the ability to capture consumer data and open a brand new communication channel specific to this event.

The creation and deployment of the Pass allowed AI to piggyback Apple and Android native technology to send “push notifications” and strategically place Geofences (virtual perimeters), keeping end users up-to-date during the show and helping to drive booth traffic.

“Using the pass, we were able to set a Geofence around the airport welcoming attendees to the show and around the participating hotel directing them to stop by the booth for a chance to win a prize and to talk to a professional insurance advisor,” Gagliardi adds.

Push notifications were sent throughout the event, alerting users of upcoming seminars and contest winners. Access Images also created a check-in capability at desired locations, such as the client’s booth, seminar or cocktail party. When the individual’s Pass was scanned, using an iPod Touch, and all three objectives (or check points) were complete, the user received a rewards Pass qualifying for the grand prize drawing.

Campaign Performance: “Traffic to the booth far exceeded the previous years,” he notes. “Traffic resulted from all of our marketing touch points and was tracked in real-time through our analytic platform. The customer reaction: Next year, we’re going to need a bigger booth.”

Did the Campaign Meet Expectations?: “Yes, it exceeded expectations and we were able to deliver what the client was expecting, driving more users to their booth. Enhancements to future campaigns could include augmented reality. Make an insurance agent come alive and walk off the printed direct mail piece...now that will grab some attention.”

There's a line of thinking that has become attached to augmented reality (AR). One is that it is just a marketing fad, empty calories accompanied by a sugar rush—technology's answer to cotton candy. It's neat, it's cute, but from a practicality standpoint, it's not built to translate into dollars and cents.

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Augmented Reality, Mobile Apps Add More Life to Print