Thursday, December 22, 2011

AUGMENTED REALITY IN PHILIPPINE ADVERTISING LAUNCHED BY GLOBE


by Roger Pe
Philippine Daily Inquirer
December 23, 2011

Has it ever occurred to you that visually communicating to an audience is a joy and the results are almost close to magic?

Want to engage more people so intently and hear them gosh with “ohs” and “ahs”?

What if this Christmas season, you can make your own virtual parol and are able to share it with your loved ones on social media? Great fun indeed.

Now you can put an end to boring print ads and presentations. Dazzle your audience!

With Globe’s Augmented Reality (AR), you can now say goodbye to one-dimensional marketing presentations, even in conceptualizing advertising campaigns.
Last December 14, Globe launched a full-page Christmas ad in major broadsheets with a colorful 5-part “Parol” (Christmas lantern) depicting how Filipinos celebrate Christmas in diversity.

The interactive ad allowed the audience to make their own Christmas “parol” and provided instant access for them to share it with their friends in social media.

Want to experience how the magic works? All you need to do is log on to globegetsme.globe.com.ph. Once you’re there, look for the AR icon made of three small lanterns located at the lower left corner. From there, you’re now ready to feast on a new visual treat.

By trailblazing another amazing first in the country, Globe changes the game and takes print advertising and visual presentations to new heights.

Globe’s AR transforms the way information is communicated. To say the least, Globe makes it in the most exciting way possible.

What exactly is Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment in which elements are intensified by computer-generated sensory input (like sound, video or graphics).

It involves layering of computer-generated imageries of the real world as seen through the camera of a smartphone or tablet computer.

In laymen’s terms, how does the AR work?

To jumpstart the use of AR in its marketing campaigns, Globe used the technology on its Christmas campaign entitled “Globe Gets Me”.

To see how it works, simply follow these simple steps:

1. Look for “Globe Gets Me” print ad in any publication
2. Go to this site: www.globe.com.ph/globegtesme
3. Allow the app to access your webcam
4. Point the black-and-white image code (found at the lower corner of the ad) at your webcam and wait for the image to appear

Tip: Don’t point the image too close. You can place the ad on your table and point the webcam down to face the image code so you can rotate it easily.

A most valuable and indispensable tool for marketing communications, Globe’s AR is a fast growing technology.

And the way it engages consumers for a specific product or service, is a wonderful new visual experience.

How’ that for a new visual treat? Want more excitement? Here’s more:

For digital campaigns, Globe AR is amazing. It can drive visual communicators to various social media freeways via the smoothest, most fascinating visual rendezvous ever.

For those who are using redemption-led strategies like couponing for promotion efforts, Globe AR is a tremendous traffic booster, a fact validated by ABI Research forecast: that market for Augmented Reality will reach US$350 million by 2014, in the United States alone.

At the recently concluded Philippine Advertising Congress, Singapore Press Holdings general manager Geoff Tan observed that the use of AR is already prevalent and widely accepted by the Singapore market.

AR is typically seen and used in events, exhibitions and roadshows, point-of-sale programs, interactive installation, website and digital marketing, and mobile marketing and m-commerce solutions.

Where new innovations begin, Globe is at the forefront, once again taking the lead and taking a big pioneering effort to advance technology for the advertising industry.

With AR, Globe hopes to establish a “more personal engagement and intimate affiliations with brands, immersing them through different senses and forge a more robust interaction with its products and services,” said Yoly Crisanto, Head of Globe Corporate Communications.

“Indeed, this is taking technology a notch higher and we are happy that we have made this milestone in the Philippine advertising industry,” she said.

Through the AR-empowered print campaign, Globe joins Filipinos in celebrating the yuletide season in diversity, and the way they connect and communicate with loved ones.

As a brand that lets subscribers enjoy their way, Globe leads with a strong portfolio of innovative, customized and affordable offers that truly enrich the lives of Filipinos, especially this Christmas.

Inventive. Innovative. Exciting. Creative. Globe adapts your way.