With most of us stuck at home, companies are working at offering whatever relief they can. Sometimes, that means sharing good vibes. Sometimes, sharing good vibes means a really cool AR experiencle.
When beverage packaging company Solucan decided to build on a Canadian social movement, they reached out to webAR company Zappar. Zappar was thrilled at the opportunity to lend their expertise.
Zappar’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for North America spoke with ARPost about the experience.
Catching Up With Zappar
Zappar is global company that provides solutions in WebAR. WebAR is a mode of creating AR experiences that users experience through their mobile phone cameras rather than a dedicated app.
The last time that we checked in with Zappar a few months ago, they were working with Coca-Cola on the first large-scale WebAR experience in South Africa. Since then, they’ve worked with other major companies including PEZ and Nestle.
“From what we’ve seen, WebAR has really opened the floodgates to connected packaging. Connected packaging is our biggest channel,” said Morris. “I think this trend is the realization that the user-product interaction can be so much more than it usually is.”
Morris also described AR experiences as the “bridge” between physical and digital marketing teams in companies.
#cavabienaller
In Canada, the social movement and hashtag #cavabienaller (in French that roughly translates to “It’s going to be okay.”) is trending.
The hashtag is a way for individuals and organizations to share positive thoughts and advice during the COVID-19 lockdown. Messages of support and images of rainbows are common on the hashtag.
Solucan, a North American beverage packaging firm that works with a number of microbrewers, wanted to get in on the action. The move makes sense: off-premise alcohol sales (sales of beverages that one buys at a market and takes home) have risen in North America, since the COVID quarantines started.
While a number of companies have changed branding or packaging in the course of the epidemic, Solucan wanted to take a step further.
Solucan’s Big Idea
“[Solucan] knew of us and had experimented with our platform before but had never created an experience,” said Morris. “They came to us with this idea, and we loved it. Honestly, we’d been looking for ways to get behind something like this because – compared to some other companies – we’re in a good position.”
Creating the experience took four days from meeting to launch.
“We’re really happy with it,” said Morris. “We feel like it really helps support this movement.”
A Look at the AR Experience
The AR experience is launched through the Zappar web app when users point their mobile phone cameras at a QR code printed on the packaging of participating brands.
This launches a selfie filter that begins as storm clouds and becomes a rainbow.
“These WebAR experiences aren’t those janky, clunky browser experiences anymore,” said Morris. “Some of them are really high-spec.”
Where Do You Find Brightness?
So far, this AR experience is only widely available on the cans of three Canadian microbreweries – Ô Quai des Brasseurs, Kombuchanv, and Le Temps d’une Pinte. However, there’s no telling where it might pop up next. That’s particularly likely considering one of the microbreweries, Ô Quai des Brasseurs has reported tripling orders since putting the AR experience on their can.
Even without a cool can, where do you find or create brightness in the world?
“We’re happy to spread a bit of positivity during what is really a difficult time,” said Morris.
