A Guide to Augmenting The At-Home Entertainment Experience for Marketers

Key Topics

Elevating consumer education with augmented reality, providing a deeper insight into brand heritage and product benefits through immersive storytelling.

Brands are building stronger communities by establishing digital and physical platforms and activations that help foster the relationship among customers and encourage participation, empowering consumers to co-create the rules and even inviting them into the R&D process. It includes hosting programmed events to build confidence in a purchase or product use in an engaging manner. It also includes peer-to-peer platforms where consumers can interact and exchange with each other.

Meeting the demand for speed and immediacy by using the physical store and other convenient locations to fulfill online orders and facilitate a hassle-free return process, meeting consumers on their own terms and adapting to their ever-changing set of needs through flexible pickup and delivery options.

Companies are increasingly tapping into their existing customer communities to ask how shoppers are feeling, crowdsource new product ideas, solicit feedback and invite product inspiration. Not only does crowd analysis collect valuable primary data to validate market trends, but it also fosters customer loyalty and increased engagement. By pairing data collection with increased customer involvement, retailers can learn from customers while simultaneously honoring their creativity.

Featured Examples

The NFL is tapping into the power of popular social media platform, TikTok, to provide their year’s Super Bowl audience with engaging pregame digital content. While social gatherings and in-person tailgates are not currently a viable option, the football organization has curated a live virtual party for fans to tune in to, headlined by Miley Cyrus, and featuring famous TikTok creators, additional musical guests, celebratory content like game-day cooking inspiration segments.

While consumers have been largely unable to gather with friends to watch this year’s football games, stuck in their individual homes, and most importantly widely unable to attend in person, sports media giant ESPN expanded its broadcasting offerings to include streaming service ESPN+ and five Disney networks: ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, Freeform and ESPN Deportes. The “MegaCast” included a variety of live programming from a “watch party” hosted on Freeform that exclusively aired a halftime performance by DJ Khaled, as well as more traditional casts hosted by ESPN and ABC.

While they were already creating innovative approaches to TV distribution and consumption, YouTube TV is continuing to push the envelope by offering users a seamless way to watch NFL games and track their fantasy teams at the same time. Users simply have to tap the “fantasy” component within YouTube TV, and their team’s data is pulled in, and based on their weekly matchup they can see player names and scores while still watching the game. For and even easier viewing and assessing experience, players on each user’s fantasy team that are presently playing in the game being watched will automatically be shown at the top of the player list.