Ramona Schmid 09/04/2022 MKTG371 Assignment 1: Two interesting marketing insights 1. Sephora Virtual Artist One of the mobile offerings of Sephora is an Augmented Reality (AR) tool that enables the consumer to virtually try on various make-up items (lipstick, make-up, blushes, lashes and eyeshadows). It is accessible through the official Sephora – App. Recently, they have added a new feature, which allows you to find the right color shade for your skin tone. Therefore, it is necessary to upload a selfie as a base. This new approach was started in 2016 and comes from a continuing collaboration with ModiFace (DeNisco Rayome, 2022). This is a good example of analyzing existing wishes and needs of the consumer market. If you imagine yourself walking inside of a Sephora Store, it can quickly get too much. The choice is overwhelming and overstimulation of sensory inputs or external stimuli are resulting in a sensory overload. Furthermore, it is a time-consuming activity, where no success is guaranteed in finding the perfect color match. This new feature, which includes Artificial Intelligence (AI), facilitates the process and is time–saving (DeNisco Rayome, 2022 & Solomon, 2017). From my point of view, the visualization enhances the shopping experience and thus makes it more pleasurable. This in turn, might have an impact on their satisfaction and thus increases hedonic consumption (Solomon, 2017). Recapturing the last two years living in a worldwide pandemic, the decision of the Sephora company to combine beauty stores with technology has been a triumph. Especially when trying out products was prohibited due to hygienic reasons, it boosted the use of this new digital approach to buying beauty products. 2. Volvo Test Drive Volvo was one of the first car companies that launched a Virtual Reality (VR) campaign partnering up with Google. With the help of the affordable Google Cardboard kit and your smartphone, it allows you to test drive a Volvo car. Of special significance is its testing of new car models that were not released yet or not available in nearby dealerships (Dua, 2014). The easily accessible online experience included a 360- degree landscape view resembling a weekend trip. This empowers the consumer to connect with a product in a new way. The image of Volvo has shifted from a practical approach to innovative and adventurous branding (Digital Marketing Institute, 2018). Principally, the pairing of “Volvo” and “Adventure” intends to shift the interpretation of the product in the third stage of the perception process. The consumer likely assigns a different meaning to the advertised car. Virtual Reality helps to make the experience vivid and more fun and therefore memorable (Solomon, 2017). A new feature allows the customer to virtually park their car for example in front of their house. It adds an extra personal touch and it makes the experiences significantly realistic. This kind of interaction is a good way to present the car and make use of the endowment effect. That is because the customer visualizes themself parking the car in front of their home. Thus, the car subconsciously becomes endowed as you perceive it to be your belonging. In addition to that, it keeps the level of excitement high until it is launched (Solomon, 2017). Ramona Schmid 09/04/2022 MKTG371 Reference List DeNisco Rayome, A. (02.15.2018). How Sephora is leveraging AR and AI to transform retail and help customers buy cosmetics. TechRepublic: Innovation. Retrieved from https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-sephora-is-leveraging-ar-and-ai-to-transformretail-and-help-customers-buy-cosmetics/ Digital Marketing Institute. (01.19.2018). 7 Examples of Successful Virtual Reality Marketing. Digital Strategy. Retrieved from https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/7-examples-ofsuccessful-virtual-reality-marketing Dua, T. (11.14.2014). Volvo launches virtual reality campaign on Google Cardboard. Digiday. Retrieved from https://digiday.com/marketing/volvo-becomes-first-automaker-use-googlecardboard-offers-test-drives-new-car/ Solomon, M.R. (2017). Consumer Behavior:Buying, Having, and Being (12th ed). Chapter 3: Perception. Prentice Hall.
