As smartphones take off--augmented reality becomes more common

November 4, 12:16 PMMarketing ExaminerJennifer L. Taylor

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Yelp for iPhone uses AR to help people find points of interest from their location

Yelp.com

With the rapid adoption of smartphones and their inherent capabilities, a new term to non-techies coined "augmented reality" comes into play. Savvy marketers need to know about it and understand it so that they can begin to implement location-based marketing into their marketing plans.

Augmented Reality: What it is

Augmented Reality (AR) for smartphones is the result of combining the camera with the phone's built-in GPS coordinates and compass. When the two combine with AR software, users can find points of interest near their exact location. 

Recently, I spoke to Glenn Letham of GISuser.com, a veteran of GIS & mapping, mobile technology, and mobile location-based services. Mr. Letham explains that in the near future, a smartphone user will be able to find points of interest at the user's exact location simply by using the camera as a viewing platform/browser. The software will understand the direction the user is facing and will be able to reveal coffee shops, print shops, restaurants, or the like.

What does this mean to marketers?

For advertising, Glenn predicts "the sky's the limit." Mr. Letham also predicts the early adopters (Yelp, iPhone), UrbanSpoon (iPhone), and Trulia (iPhone) will become the leaders as they take their existing software application and develop it further. The advertising possibilities include: buying location balloons that pop up whenever the business or point of interest is within a certain distance from an exact location. Other possibilities include preferred treatment (sponsored restaurant for example) and coupons are other possibilities.

The mobile space is an attractive venue for marketers due to the ability to tailor the messaging based on location.

Mr. Letham offered another prediction: as more apps are developed for smartphones, the app will evolve from just a basic set of information (for example, a location of a store) to providing an interactive map that will show the consumer how to find the store. Companies will be able to provide very useful information to get customers to their location and they will also be able to offer a coupon for not only inquiring but arriving at the store.

We will see applications for smartphones evolving into much more useful applications and location-based marketing (augmented reality) will impact how apps are created and used. The users' experience will greatly be enhanced as well.

This article is the second in a series on mobile marketing. The first article is Mobile Marketing 101.

© 2009 Jennifer (Jena) L. Taylor dba The Word Tailor