L’Oreal Paris exploits the increase in interest surrounding augmented reality technology to create ‘Makeup Genius’. A genuinely useful tool for makeup and beauty lovers, the unique app essentially allows the consumer to ‘virtually’ put on some slap! In other words, the industry giant is making the purchasing process a hell of a lot easier for its customers – by allowing them to ‘try on’ beauty products virtually on their phone screen, rather than actually putting the physical product on their face in store. The product moves with the person in real time allowing a realistic look to be portrayed, saving the customer time and money whilst also encouraging them to purchase with the L’Oreal brand.
Augmented reality use in purchasing is a fantastic concept, which has subsequently been adopted by top-name brands across the globe such as Ikea & Burberry. In order to stay ahead, these successful companies recognise the need to adapt, where the ever increasing use of mobile is affecting high street footfall, these big brand players have found a niche. With big budgets and endless resources, companies such as L’Oreal can boost campaigns such as the Makeup Genius app and invest in marketing techniques such as augmented reality use in order to remain competitive in the beauty market.
Downloaded over 20 million times, the app is a digital hit. Not only does it contain a useful service, its interface is clean and allows for a sound consumer experience. Following on from the success of the app, L’Oreal also developed ‘Shade Genius’ an app with the technology to match your skin tone with the right product based on the same technology.
More recently, L’Oreal have partnered with YouCam, an established augmented reality e-commerce app, to allow its products to be sold on this platform as well. The brand is also testing augmented reality in some of its retail branches, taking steps to make its physical spaces more digital.
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By embracing all things digital – L’Oreal are paving the way for other influential brands to do the same. This is crucial in the way innovative technologies such as augmented reality are perceived in the mainstream market. The notion that augmented reality can be a lucrative marketing technique is seeming to catch on.
With its popularity increasing, the question posed is, where does augmented reality go from here? Looking another 12 months down the line, will the digital experience of augmented reality currently limited to a mobile device jump onto a bigger platform? May we see augmented reality popping up not only on our phone screen but in physical spaces where we shop, eat, rest…?
The possibilities of augmented reality in the future are endless – but the use of augmented capabilities by renowned companies such as L’Oreal only encourages this ‘disruptive’ technology to be advanced further and faster than ever before.
