21st century consumers are a unique breed, and brands must leverage a unique combination of strategies to connect with them
Are you ready to paint your living room? Great. Now all you have to do is decide on the right colors – maybe neutral with an accent wall. That’s kind of a trend right now.
This century, you will actually digitally “paint” your walls to see the full effect of what that room would look like before making your decision. Welcome to the world of augmented reality (AR). Ain’t it grand?
But this isn’t all. You will also experience virtual reality (VR) as you make decisions about how and where to spend your money.
Defining AR and VR
As the example above illustrates, 21st century consumers can overspread digital images onto their real-world environment and see how a product would look there. It’s great for consumers who are looking to buy such things as furniture, clothing, eyewear, and such.
VR, on the other hand, immerses consumers in a virtual environment where they can actually experience a product or service – resorts or museums, for example.
So, what sectors of the economy are using AR and VR?
Retail
This is the largest sector using this new technology. And almost every retail sub-sector is getting on board.
Want furniture? Go to IKEA and virtually place pieces in your home?
Want a new dress or sports coat? Want a new pair of tennis shoes? Try them on virtually at Ralph Lauren, Adidas, Nike, Nordstrom, or Macy’s (and many more).
Want to know how Starbucks grows its coffee? Take a virtual trip to China and see those beans growing and being processed. How about wine? Scan the code on the bottle and instantly go to the vineyards and experience the entire process of making that bottle of wine.
Need new glasses? Access the retailer’s website and virtually try on frames until you find the perfect “fit” for you before you ever visit the brick-and-mortar store. This is a huge time-saver for customers, not to mention the fact that they are not putting frames on their faces that have been on countless others.
Beauty
Even social media has become a base for retailers to provide AR experiences to 21st century consumers. Ulta Beauty, for example, launched its AR experience on Snapchat in 2022. Using filters, someone can try on all types of makeup products, find those they think to look best, and then share their “new look” on all of their social media accounts. Of course, Ulta isn’t doing this just for the fun of it. Right there, in the Snapchat app, customers can purchase the products they like.
Of course, Ulta is not the only retailer of its kind to introduce AR. Sephora and L’Oreal, for example, also have virtual filters to try their products.
Travel and Tourism
Trying to decide on a travel destination? Both AR and VR are fast becoming high-demand tools for destination-shopping among 21st century consumers.
Take a virtual tour of a city or town you are considering. You’ll be shown its streets, attractions, and entertainment options in real-time as people enjoy them.
Better yet, many resorts now offer VR experiences. You can plop yourself down in the resort and actually experience all of the amenities it offers.
Both the Hilton and Marriot hotel chains have now introduced AR and VR experiences, not just for potential guests, but as training tools for their staff too.
Education
Yes, education has been a consumer-based industry as students attend private schools and colleges. There is a growing trend of home-schooling too. Students can now tour museums all over the world, visit the Great Pyramid in Egypt, or take trips to rainforests, deserts, the Arctic, and even ocean underwater spots like coral reefs.
College students can place themselves in lecture classrooms from their homes; they can have virtual study sessions. The possibilities are endless, and technology keeps moving those possibilities forward.
The Automobile Sector
How about a “test drive” in a car you are thinking about? How about visiting virtual showrooms or designing and then viewing the features you want in a car you may purchase? Lots of automotive industry leaders are already on this – Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Chrysler, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Kia, and Tesla all have AR and VR in their marketing activities.
And after the sale? Suppose one of those icons flashes on the dash that indicates a problem. The owner can scan a barcode on the dash and identify what is wrong – beats the old way of searching through that owner’s manual or visiting a mechanic to figure it out.
In short? AR and VR aren’t just for Pokémon Go and personal entertainment. They are improving customer experiences in new and amazing ways. And this is just the beginning. Fasten your seatbelts.
But these two technologies have a couple of close cousins that impact AR and VR. These two technologies are artificial intelligence (AR) and machine learning (ML).
AI and ML in the Marketplace
While these terms are used interchangeably, they are not exactly the same.
- AI is the intelligence gatherer – from the entire universe of data that is out there. The goal is to build systems that act like humans – robots, for example.
- ML is a subset of AI that takes the data it needs from AI to develop systems to perform certain tasks. But along the way, the “machine” sees patterns and learns from them.
Here’s a simple example. Insurance companies deal with fraud on a daily basis. What ML does is learn patterns of behavior of fraudsters and then can “flag” the company when that pattern emerges, so the company can then investigate the claim and the claimant more thoroughly.
Here’s another example: When you access Amazon, you are looking for a particular product. Amazon will pull up several options, and you make a purchase. Immediately, you get a message, “Others who have purchased this product have also purchased…,” and then you are presented with more options for additional purchases you might consider. This is ML – it has gathered and analyzed the buying behaviors of consumers, remembers them, and spits out those other options.
AI and ML are infiltrating every sector of the economy at a rapid rate. One interesting area of infiltration has been in the online dating industry.
Dating with ML
When you join an online dating site, you create a profile and tell the app what your preferences are for someone you’d like to virtually date. That info is fed into the system, and matches are then generated for you. As you accept and reject those matches, the “machine” learns more about you. And as it does, it keeps refining the matches to present to you, getting closer and closer to exactly what you want.
You can go there yourself if you are single and curious about how all of this works. Join one and see. Who knows? That machine might just find the perfect person.
Where are We Going?
Well, we aren’t sure exactly. All of this technology – AR, VR, AI, ML – is evolving so rapidly, that even Congress is looking into some concerns that have cropped up in recent years. And yes, there are some ethical worries, especially how much technology may control our thinking and decision-making. But that is the topic for another article. For now, you can use these tips to connect with your 21st century consumers.
