US telecommunications firm Verizon has entered the Metaverse with an augmented reality (AR) treasure hunt for Apple IOS devices, allowing users the chance to win an iPhone 13.
Recently, Verizon invested $45.5 billion into its 5G networks and thanks to this, users can experience the company’s new Metaverse with low-latency connections.
The New York City-based firm displayed QR codes across Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Seattle, allowing treasure hunters to enter the Metaverse experience using Apple’s advanced AR lens to overlay WebAR visuals and interactive assets in a physical location.
To win prizes, treasure hunters must navigate the AR environment to find a hidden “number 13.”
Verizon Advertises with AR
The news comes after Verizon and the National Football League (NFL) went viral in September after bringing the Carolina Panthers’ mascot to life with 5G and AR technologies. The AR experience highlighted how Verizon could pair its 5G network with AR tools to increase brand awareness.
In a statement to Marketing Dive, Andrew McKechnie, Verizon’s Chief Creative Officer, said:
“AR allows us to meet our consumers in a new Metaverse, reimagining our worlds and how we engage on a deeper level”
Additional companies such as Poplar Studios, 8th Wall and Delta Reality have offered marketers with a democratised ecosystem that pairs brands and extended reality (XR) developers to create immersive campaigns aimed at heightening consumer engagement.
Previously, Verizon partnered with 8th Wall to create a WebAR campaign promoting a collaboration between musician Halsey and the FriendsWithYou art collective.
In the experience, users also had to find a hidden “number 13” in an AR environment to receive an iPhone 13.
In an XR Today interview, David Ripert, Co-Founder and Chief Executive at Poplar Studio and the VR/AR Association’s UK Chapter President, spoke on AR’s effectiveness in boosting marketing campaign conversion rates “50 to 200 percent” higher than video advertising campaigns.
Mr Ripert added at the time a Nestle AR campaign had generated more than 30 seconds of play time for consumers, which was “more than Nestle [ever] got with their video ads.”
