New technologies have revolutionised the way that brands are able to target consumers through advertising. With the emergence and continued evolution of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality the advancements in advertising are continuing to present new ways for consumers to reach their audience.

Prior to this year’s World Cup in Russia the FA trialled ‘virtual replacement technology’ during England’s friendly against Costa Rica. This innovative advertising format enabled brands to target their adverts at specific territories, meaning that campaigns were much more targeted. For the first time, advertisers were able to change the messaging across the stadium’s perimeter advertising boards to target fans in different locations – in this instance fans in the stadium were shown a different message to those watching on TV at home and fans watching in Costa Rica were also shown different messaging to those watching in the UK.

This technology can transform the way that sports clubs are able to interact with their fanbase.

Augmented Reality digital ad spend increased from $6.6 billion in 2016 to $12.8 billion in 2017, a jump of nearly 100%,  demonstrating the rapid adoption of this form of advertising.

With developments in AR continuing to gather pace this advertising channel will continue to grow and more brands will be looking to get on-board. Until now it’s mainly been the likes of McDonalds, Nivea, Starbucks and Volkswagen who have experimented within this channel, but as technology companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Google continue to improve their software and launch more compatible devices we’ll continue to see more companies experiment with their digital ads.

If you want to know more about AR email hello@sixports.com

Sources:

https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/06/13/fa-deploys-supponor-virtual-replacement-technology-for-world-cup-warm-up-match/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/03/21/digital-marketing-in-the-age-of-virtual-and-augmented-reality/#71696bc066e8