Archive for December, 2021

Since Pokémon Go brought Augmented Reality (AR) to the mainstream five years ago, the technology has been increasingly adopted by brands looking to incorporate it into their marketing material. The onset of the pandemic, which has seen consumers increasingly connecting with brands on mobile, is now making these kinds of dynamic digital signage activations even more important.

Done right, AR can make mobile experiences more interactive, immersive, and informative. But is AR in retail really maturing enough to make this a reality? Speaking to Retail Dive, Allison Ferenci, co-founder and CEO of software company Camera IQ, argues that it is.

“Not only are brands using AR as an always-on format, but they’re also using AR as a full-funnel solution. They’re trying to use AR at every customer touch point from driving awareness, to getting deeper consumer engagement, to increasing conversion at checkout.”

Allison argues that AR offers brands the potential to give new and existing customers more control over their experience. Today, the most popular applications include virtual try-ons of clothes and cosmetics, and photorealistic demonstrations of home furnishings. However, wider applications are likely.

The future of AR in retail

Continuous improvements in smartphone technology, combined with the rollout of higher speed 5G networks, will make AR content easier for consumers to download and interact with. These technological leaps are also giving brands more creative freedom when developing AR strategy.

“The big thing when it comes to AR is to not just focus on that bottom-of-funnel conversion,” Ferenci said. “Instead, think about the creative format and that you’re really delivering an experience to your customer. The opportunity is to deliver an experience in an always-on format.”

She recommends that the next step for AR in retail is for marketers to start focusing on AR content based closely around their overall brand objectives, whether that be driving awareness, direct sales, or both.

The potential for awareness campaigns is significant and varied. Brands can include elements that encourage consumers to engage with an AR object, and to familiarise themselves with a brand and share on social media.

“That’s how the creative that you authored starts to change based on where the consumer is and what your goal is in the outcome,” Ferenci said. “In an AR experience, there’s actually a lot of nuance based on the objective you have.”

At The Delta Group, in addition to our manufacturing of quality printed marketing display materials, we also provide a wide range of digital solutions including AR content generation. Get in touch to find out more: hello@thedeltagroup.com.

Dec, 2021 LONDON

The Delta Group, Europe’s premier visual communications specialist delivering dynamic multi-channel marketing services to consumer brands and retailers, is pleased to announce a contract win for McColl’s retail marketing ‘Point of Sale’ contract, after a competitive tender process.

McColl’s convenience stores and Martin’s newsagents have a network of 1,265 sites across England, Scotland and Wales, serving over 4 million customers with their 16,500 colleagues across the business.

The Delta Group will be providing complex retail campaign execution through its WorkstreamX technology providing integrated artwork, creative, digital automation, POS production, fulfillment and distribution to McColl’s for their promotional in-store campaigns, leaflet drops and magazine production.

Mandy Hodson, Head of Marketing at McColl’s, said: “Our tender process was focused on finding a partner that understood Retail, and could provide us with the ability to execute campaigns at pace, allowing us flexibility to maximize in-store promotions for our customers. Delta clearly demonstrated an advanced understanding of retail campaign execution and highlighted how their unique infrastructure, retail technology and in-house end to end services will help McColl’s drive ‘Continuous Improvement’.”

Jason Hammond, CEO of the Delta Group, said: “We are thrilled with this award, particularly as it came through a complex tender process that left no stone unturned. To be appointed to work with McColl’s is very exciting and provides us assurance that our culture of ‘Can do’ and focus on continuous improvements, investment in people, services and manufacturing are being recognised as the market leading retail grocery / convenience strategy.

Press Contact:
Dean Smith, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer
Dean.Smith@theDeltaGroup.co.uk
+447957 633652

Effective marketing operations are a must for any business to run smoothly. Central to that is a digital asset management (DAM) system. However, with many companies still relying on outdated DAM systems, effective marketing operations can sometimes prove to be rather elusive.

These legacy systems have been described as little more than digital filing cabinets or the place where digital assets got to die, reports The Drum.

A recent webinar staged by The Drum and Hyland addressed this issue. Here’s a summary of the key points discussed.

Importance of media assets post-pandemic

The pandemic has triggered a rapid growth in the importance of digital assets for most companies. Many have moved towards more of a digital-first model, with digital content acting as a key differentiator in the customer experience. With an estimated 50% of consumer interactions happening online, we are fast approaching the tipping point when online revenue will exceed that of in-store revenue.

With this increased focus on online content comes a greater need for more personalised, visually driven, modular content delivered across different platforms and channels. Organisations are looking for content that serves a purpose for a specific moment in time, stepping away from the long-form content that has populated websites and print media for so long.

DAM systems that are fit for purpose

Tailored content essentially means a greater volume of content and more variants on that content (e.g. colours, backgrounds, sizes and seasonality). As a result, assets need to be tracked, stored, easily located and recombined with speed and ease. And the best way to do that is through a modern DAM system.

Legacy DAM systems are often clunky, sitting outside of web content management systems, and making it hard to find the digital assets needed. Other challenges include inconsistent search results (because tags, keywords and metadata need to be entered manually), as well as issues accessing and sharing assets (leading to duplication and difficulties tracking them).

Add to this the fact that traditional DAM systems are more time-consuming, have limited recording functionality (leading to compliance and rights management issues), and often come with file restraints. 

The need for next generation DAM is crucial. According to Alan Porter, director of product marketing at Hyland, a next generation DAM system should be cloud native, low code, scalable (in both directions), API first, and have an integrated workflow.

With WorkStream X your business can take one step closer to seamless marketing operations. It’s already helping some of the world’s largest retailers take back control of their campaign management. What could it do for your company? Get in touch to find out more: hello@thedeltagroup.com.