Augmented Reality in Package Design

In the fast-moving consumer goods market, executives and business owners want to see a newly designed package in real life before they approve it. Here augmented reality comes into play to revolutionize the customer experience. According to recent stats, the worldwide market size for augmented reality is predicted to reach over 198 billion U.S. dollars in 2025. By taking advantage of AR technology can companies engage more customers and enhance their brands and products. In addition to that, AR technology help to close the gap between the physical and digital worlds by turning customers’ attention to sophisticated packaging design solutions of your brand. Sounds impressive, right? Let’s delve into the details below!

What is Augmented Reality in Packaging Design?

Augmented Reality in package design used as a marketing technique introducing an interactive element to packaging as well as creating a more positive packaging user experience. Not only can that lead to brand loyalty growth, but also brands will attract more consumers by outperforming competitors. That’s why by using augmented reality technology, you can deliver an exclusive and unique packaging experience to consumers without a massive investment. This innovative technology gives your business a completely new boost. Without additional materials, you can incorporate it into any existing products fast and easily eliminating any major package or production redesigns. Think I’m exaggerating? Let’s keep reading!

How to benefit from packaging design featured Augmented Reality

There are many brands using the power of AR technology that drastically enhances their experience. Below we are highlighting key benefits that may inspire you to opt for AR technology in packaging design. Not only does it help you to empower customers, but also you can outperform competitors. Let’s keep reading!

#1: Deliver unique experience for your customers through innovative technology

The innovative AR technology is rapidly growing and expanding our physical world. That’s why brands have every reason to leverage this enhanced experience with their customers. What's more, 61% of consumers prefer brands offering AR experiences — and 40% of them would likely buy from them. As you see using augmented reality for packaging definitely increases the interest in your brand/products and attracts more customers.

#2: Use AR technology for special promotions of your product.

According to recent statistics, 41% of AR users are using AR due to deals and special promotions. Those brands who take advantage of this technology, stand out from the competition and wins more customers. For example, when scanning Heineken’s logo, it produces a digital 3D globe that customers can explore. Moreover, they also offered sweepstakes prizes for the Latin Grammy Awards which generated lots of interest in their product.

#3: Increase customer satisfaction from your brand

It’s the truth that customers are at the heart of every product, they have own desires and expectations.  And your goal is to meet these needs and make them happy. With augmented reality technology, it’s not a problem anymore. Not only does it help customers to test true-to-size packaging designs directly inside their space but also they can access a portfolio of past and on-going projects on their smartphones or laptops.

#4: Save time and money with AR

Visualization is the core activity in the design process. Fortunately, augmented reality technology is here to help you. Being an alternative to physical prototyping, it opens up significant opportunities for skipping physical mockups, gaining fast feedback.  Not only does it help you to accelerate the packaging design process, but also it eliminates the need for multiple physical prototypes and drastically reduces costs.

#5: Implementing viral marketing techniques to generate interest in your product and brand

Only by identifying the target audience for your product and the value can you apply the viral marketing that is a customer-focused approach. If your potential users will try AR, they will likely start to share information about the brand that provides it. The more interest in your product, the faster your company grows.

Major considerations when designing packages for your brand featuring AR technology

Below we have outlined some essential things you should take into account if you are going to design packages for your brand. Let's delve into details below:

1. Goal: at the very beginning you should define the goal of the marketing campaign. That is because augmented reality packaging can be used to serve a great number of purposes - attracting more customers, notifying or engaging them.
2. Target audience: identifying who your customer is really crucial. The AR-focused solution creates completely engross worlds and engage users. That’s why you should know what types of consumers you are going to serve and deliver the most value.
3. Access to your content: it is most likely that customers will use their smartphones or tablets to access your content. However, with advanced technologies, customers will access your content through the use of wearable technology — specialized glasses. That’s why don’t forget to take it into account when planning.
4. Content: it’s obvious that  AR content should support your brand. That's why you should align your content with brand message and values — colors, fonts, and style should match your brand and convey an appropriate message.
5. Budget: augmented reality implies a higher investment than traditional packaging design. For that reason, it’s important to allocate enough budget for its implementation. But it pays the bills and will help you to make the sale.
6. Campaign duration: also, you should decide how long the campaign will run. That’s because campaign duration impacts the cost - a shorter-running campaign will likely have less cost.

Bottom line: Take packaging design with AR to the next level

Ultimately, AR technology has the greatest impact and revolutionize the way people physically interact with technology in their lives. Currently, augmented reality for packaging design is more accessible than ever before and is poised to represent a major breakthrough in the coming years. If you are looking to incorporate AR in your product packaging design, it’s a good idea to get an expert on board — a reliable tech partner. Let us know if you want to turn any idea into a robust and top-notch AR-powered packaging design solution.