It’s time to connect
By Rob Hollands, Managing Director, SharpEnd
Recent research shows that 86% of consumers are more likely to buy a product that delivers a connected experience. s with many new technologies, there is usually a period of hype, high expectations, trials, errors and some questionable use cases. This is often followed by disillusionment, after which we start to find genuine value and begin to climb the ‘slope of enlightenment’, captured by the Gartner Hype Cycle. It is in this period of enlightenment that Connected Packaging now finds itself. Connected Packaging is a relatively simple concept: take a brand’s largest owned media asset – their packaging – create a valuable consumer experience, add a clear and compelling
call-to-action and incorporate technology such as QR, NFC or AR, to connect it all together. Digitalising this most analogue of assets finally unlocks who buys and uses our products. It can build genuine loyalty amongst the most valuable consumers, tell immersive brand stories, educate, as well as entertain and delight. It can facilitate purchase, support transparency and authenticity, drive sustainable behaviours and can even begin to make packaging more accessible for blind and disabled users. Connected packaging technology QR (Quick Response Code): consumers scan a code with their smartphone camera. Mostly recognised as a small black and white square of squares, but with increasing creativity around design. IR (Image Recognition): consumers point their smartphone camera at the product or packaging. Computer vision or object detection identifies the product and delivers a relevant experience.
Consumers are connecting Three forces have aligned to bring us to this exciting tipping point. The pandemic has condensed many years of digitalisation into just a few. It has also prioritised organisations’ need to reach consumers in new and meaningful ways and drive value from existing assets. The big tech companies and handset manufacturers are enabling this momentum. They have continuously enhanced QR and NFC features now
NFC (Near-field communication): consumers tap a small, embedded NFC tag from a distance of around 3cm or less with their smartphone. AR (Augmented Reality): sometimes combined with IR for a ‘marker-less’ experience but more often triggered from a QR code. AR allows you to ‘augment’ digital content with the physical world. ‘webAR’ is now achieving this without the need for an app.
15.
