Gen Z consists of roughly 2.47 billion people around the world. With an estimated $143 billion in direct spending power, they are poised to become the largest generation of consumers.
As the first true digital natives, Gen Z is the first generation of consumers to grow up with complete access to the internet. This has completely transformed the way they interact with brands and make purchasing decisions, making it critical for businesses to understand their unique needs and preferences.
To do this, marketers need to find new ways to engage Gen Z users, find new strategies that offer a personalized experience that drives results and meet the demand for immersive experiences from a new generation of digital natives.
One way to accomplish this is through augmented reality (AR). Because it is intrinsically personal, AR puts the user at the center of a story and makes them an active participant with branded content. By doing this, AR allows brands to create meaningful connections with consumers. And with web-based augmented reality (WebAR), brands can power AR everywhere through the browser, with no app download required.
Increase engagement and capture attention
Traditional marketing methods are becoming less effective at engaging Gen Z consumers.
Neuroscientific researcher Neuro-Insight found that AR experiences deliver almost double the levels of engagement of non-AR interactions. According to a report from Accenture, 50% of consumers better recall brands that engage them with immersive technologies and 47% say immersive technologies make them feel more connected with products.
One example of how AR can increase engagement is the Lush “Snow Fairy” WebAR campaign that featured three unique experiences: a personalized gifting flow, a holiday-themed face filter and a fully immersive portal environment. Leveraging the cross-channel power of WebAR, the experience was distributed as both an in-store retail experience and across a variety of online channels. Each unique experience featured a connection to the next, delivering a fully immersive journey through snow-laden forests and into the enchanted world of the Snow Fairy.
While Lush made headlines last year for its decision to step back from major social media platforms, the immersive Snow Fairy experience provided an opportunity for digital brand engagement that isn’t reliant on social media.
In collaboration with Aircards, the Lush team showed considerable innovation in bringing the experience to life for its audience using WebAR powered by 8th Wall. This led to an 18% clickthrough rate with the average time spent within the experience being over 4 minutes of dwell time. This high level of engagement is incredible when compared to online video ads that average about 20 seconds.
Drive conversion
As the purchasing power of Gen Z grows, so does their demand for innovative online experiences.
According to a 2021 Consumer AR Global Report by Snap, users who interact with products that have AR experiences lead to a 94% higher conversion rate, as consumers can better assess products and form a deeper connection with brands.
One example of this is an AR virtual try-on experience created for Chilli Beans, the largest eyewear store in Latin America. Developed by Buu Digital, this AR experience featured over 1,000 3D eyewear models for seven Chilli Beans Special Collections.
Customers could access the WebAR try-on experience by going to the Chilli Beans website and tapping the try-on buttons found on the product details page of select sunglass products. Once triggered, customers could see themselves wearing virtual replicas of the sunglasses, and could compare how they look in the various styles before making a purchase. This led to a 48% increase in sales of sunglasses that relied on the virtual try-on experience.
By enabling customers to virtually try on sunglasses directly from its website, Chilli Beans was able to boost customer confidence in their purchases and increase conversion to purchase. This innovative use of AR demonstrates how brands can help Gen Z customers make informed decisions when shopping online. For Gen Z consumers who tend to be more strategic with their buying decisions, this is especially important given the economic climate they’ve grown up in.
Create memorable brand experiences
Gen Z consumers continuously crave personalized and engaging experiences that enable them to interact with the world. With AR, brands can create richer, more meaningful experiences that engage users.
To promote the launch of the sci-fi blockbuster film, Dune, Aircards developed an innovative cross-platform avatar experience that enabled users to create their own custom 3D Dune avatars. In the experience, Dune fans can create their own custom avatar by uploading a selfie of themselves or by customizing one of the avatars provided.
Created in partnership with Yahoo Creative Studios and Ringtail Studios, this innovative experience was the first-of-its kind to incorporate Ready Player Me with 8th Wall. This provided users with the opportunity to view and use their avatar in several different platforms, giving them the freedom to choose how and where they interact with the branded content.
On average, users spent 3-plus minutes in the experience with over 16,000 avatars being downloaded throughout the duration of the campaign, demonstrating how brands can leverage the power of AR to create memorable brand experiences and build brand loyalty.
This type of experience will become more in demand by Gen Z and subsequent generations as the blending of the physical world and digital worlds continues.
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Caitlin Lacey is the senior director of product marketing for Niantic. With more than a decade of experience in tech, Caitlin has dedicated her career to helping business leaders harness the latest technology to drive value for their brands.
