How Can Brands Get into the Phone?

This article previously ran in the January/February 2022 issue of PS Magazine.

Brands know the power of digital lies in personal experiences. Many clients ask Lisa Masse, workflow manager at Label Specialties, about creative ways to get into people’s phones, where many of the customer’s most personal experiences lie. 

“People often ask how they can make labels jump out at the customer,” Masse says. “They want to be able to have a customer walk by a label and be alerted. That seems annoying, but I think if it’s done appropriately, it can be done.”

Masse believes that augmented reality (AR) is the next big thing in labels — and the closest labels will come to jumping out at people. With AR, shoppers can aim their device at the label, typically via an app, and watch as animations, games, videos and even special offers come to life atop the label on their screen. 

Thus far, AR has been for big brands — Masse says smaller companies she speaks with usually balk at the price. Big brands typically have their own apps already, which helps. Jones Soda, for example, is using its app to allow customers to scan 1.5 million of its labels and receive unique content from 15 different artists and influencers. LEGO has used AR to provide games and playful videos. McDonald’s has used AR to provide offers to customers for its delivery service amid the pandemic. 

Much like how QR codes seemingly became ubiquitous overnight, Masse believes that this could also happen with AR. Powerhouse platforms like Facebook are working on ways, such as Meta, to make the digital world come to life. Perhaps one day soon, customers will have easy access to pointing their camera at a shelf and watching the real and virtual worlds mingle on a commonly available app. 

Those who find creative ways to use AR will have customers interacting with their products and labels in entirely new ways, Masse says, with much yet to be discovered about how this may influence their behavior.

“They pick up the product and hold it underneath a camera to see what happens,” Masse says. “If you get it in my hand, that's half the battle right there.”

Hal Conick is a Chicago-based writer.