Fast food super-chain McDonald’s has launched a new augmented reality marketing campaign to promote the launch of their new dessert in India. The fast food company has been leery of digital media for some time, slowly warming to growing trends in mobile technology and marketing. Now, however, the company is diving into augmented reality in the hopes of attracting the attention of tech-savvy consumers. Using AR, McDonald’s will be making consumers a part of the campaign itself.
Immersion is not something one often considers when going to McDonald’s but it is of paramount importance in marketing. Immersion allows consumers to get lost in a marketing campaign and, thereby, increases the likelihood of continued patronage. The concept has proven illusive in the past due to limitation with technology, but augmented reality may solve that problem.
McDonald’s campaign is based around the new McFlurry that is being released in India. The dessert is being promoted with a series of animated commercials on local TV channels which consumers will have a chance to be a part of. Local stores will be equipped with a number of video cameras that will feed images to a TV screen. The screen will be awash with a flurry of digital animations that attempt to interact with customers.
This is one of the first times augmented reality has been used in the fast food industry and may spur McDonald’s competitors to adopt augmented reality in the future.