Incorporating Augmented Reality in the Sports Marketing Space

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of excitement generated around the emergence of augmented reality and the opportunities marketers have to leverage it as an engagement tool. Augmented reality has become noticeably more mainstream, with a number of major brands experimenting with the technology to better understand how it can be used to drive engagement, education, and sales.

As sports marketers, it's important to at least have a simple grasp of the technology, how it's being incorporated, and what opportunities exist in the sports space.

Sports properties, brands, and individual athletes can look to engage fans via augmented reality in several different settings, including stadiums (scoreboard, concourse kiosks/displays, suites, mobile street teams), mobile locations (laptops, iPads, mobile phones), and at home (computers, television screens/video game portals with Internet access, etc.).

The following examples detail how brands, sports properties, and individual athletes can bring a static messaging gameday piece (piece of paper, product label, flyer, billboard, product packaging, ticket, fan loyalty card, parking pass) to life for fans in new ways via augmented reality. As the industry begins to tap into augmented reality, these examples will become more constructive, impactful, and engaging...

Footwear / Apparel (adidas, Nike)

Consumer Packaged Goods (Gillette)

Food Products (Pringles)

Technology / 2.0 (Yahoo)

Automotive Brands

Alcoholic Beverage Brands (Tsingato, Leveraging Beer with NBA Label)

Energy Drinks (Red Bull, Leveraging Lindsay Vonn Red Bull 6-Pack Packaging)

Soft Drink Brands (Pepsi)

Computers (Lenovo)

Shipping / Freight (USPS)

IBM Uses Augmented Reality at the 2010 U.S. Open

IBM is using augmented reality to take the fan experience at the 2010 U.S. Open to new heights. The computer technology company developed a U.S. Open iPhone application that allows users on-site at the tournament to point their phone in the direction of the tennis court (even if you are walking by outside) and receive real-time scores and statistics. Fans can also use this iPhone app functionality to see what restaurants are on-site.

The new U.S. Open App essentially marries the camera and GPS functionality of an iPhone to offer real-time scoring, live radio, venue maps, and the special "Around me" feature that provides fans with an interactive experience via augmented reality. The app serves as a great demonstration of IBM's "Smarter Planet" campaign and helps the company showcase to its clientele how they can use data to make better decisions.

IBM created a similar app with augmented reality functionality for the iPhone and Android at the 2010 Wimbledon tournament. Check it out below:

The 2010 U.S. Open app is even much more sophisticated than the product they offered to consumers in 2009, detailed below: