Branding in AR

Is it branding or barndiing if it's in AR (Augmented Reality)? On the precipice of total chaos when AR hits mainstream via Apple glasses (name to be determined), Snap is jumping on the wagon that the Samsung band started with AR overlay sketches.

Some brands have barnded well in AR, and Apple is making a huge bet on it. Whereas Facebook, Microsoft, HTC and others have focused on the Virtual side of reality, Apple, Samsung and Snap are banking on the Augmentation of reality and it makes sense.

You don't take the Virtual world with you, and it is harder to share the reality of the virtual world. iPhone proved this point many years ago, and is now the de facto standard for mobile communications and the technology lifestyle in general. Google Glass. Cartoon avatars certainly don't help make VR seem normal, and anonymous trolls and predators add another layer of danger to the mix. The virtual world can be very scary, isolating and shocking, while the augmented world is the average scary, isolating and shocking world we already live in everyday, so at least it's familar.

With billboards, video displays, and signage everywhere already, augmented branding fits in with the world we live in. The question is how will brands get users to interact and engage with their brand in AR. Pokemon proved it is possible, and we are only getting started in the new Augmented world of reality.