Few sectors have embraced technology in their marketing as well as the drinks industry and tequila makers Patrón are leading the way.

As Tech Trends highlighted last year, the drinks industry is at the forefront of new technology and is well aware of the opportunities MR and IoT offer when marketing lifestyle products. One company in particular, has been leading the way, Patrón, makers of excellent Tequila. They have been breaking new ground in beverage marketing for years now, so Tech Trends met up with their VP of Marketing Adrian Parker to find out what role technology plays in their company strategy.

The consumer journey is much more advanced now, so the modern marketer's toolkit has evolved to a plethora of exciting enhancements
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“Patrón prides itself in being a leader in its industry and that includes leveraging digital and mobile marketing.” Adrian explained. “We’re proud to work in the tech space and test new technologies that will enhance the consumer experience. We’re now able to educate our consumers on not just the bottle and the liquid, but the history and authenticity of the brand as well as its versatility. The consumer journey is so much more advanced than it was years ago so the modern marketers tool kit has really evolved to a plethora of so many cool, exciting enhancements as well. We can now leverage AR, AI enabled voice technology, virtual reality and more.”

In fact, they were amongst the first drinks companies to embrace 360 video and VR with The Art of Patrón Virtual Reality Experience in 2015 and continue to showcase this experience at marketing events today. The experience gives users a “bee’s eye view” of the Hacienda Patrón in Jalisco, Mexico and works in VR and modern browsers.

“Seeing how handcrafted the Patrón tequila-making process still is, it’s the greatest marketing asset we have—it’s also the least scalable,” says Adrian “Since we can’t bring millions of consumers to our working distillery in Mexico, VR created an opportunity for us to bring Mexico to them.”

The handcrafted process behind Patrón tequila-making is our greatest marketing asset. VR created an opportunity to bring Mexico to consumers
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The VR experience was a hefty investment on Patrón’s part. To create it, they hired an airline pilot to fly a drone outfitted with six GoPros through the Hacienda. Live action scenes were combined with computer animation, and, in total, the project took eight months and an onsite-crew of nearly 100 people to complete. Then, the company had to secure over 200 Samsung Gear VR goggles and 30,000 Google Cardboard kits to use at events around the world. But because the experience is also available online, Parker says that hundreds of thousands of consumers have been able to fly throughout the Hacienda—making VR a worthy investment in their eyes. As we discussed in 2017 mobile AR is the hot new tool in drinks marketing so I asked Adrian where Patrón’s AR vision come from and what are the benefits the brand has experienced using this technology?

“When Apple launched AR technology as part of their operating system, it made it accessible to the everyday user and provided an excellent opportunity for us to reach consumers in an innovative way like never before. The technology provides us with a critical platform to touch real people using how they are consuming their information. We are able to educate on our products in an impactful and digestible way that did not exist prior to this technology.”

When Apple launched AR technology as part of their operating system, it made it accessible to the everyday user and provided an excellent opportunity for us to reach consumers like never before
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Not content on resting on their laurels, Patrón have been working on their ARKit App to incorporate social sharing and a futuristic shopping function. Aside from the app’s educational component, teaching users more about the core Patrón line, users will be able to purchase products directly through the app via US site Reserve Bar.

“The new ARKit update features a new direct purchase capability where users can buy Patrón’s core line of tequila directly through the app via ReserveBar.com, which is a first for the technology. Users also now have the addition of a ‘photo booth on-the-go’ with themed frames that can be shared directly on social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.”

The new ARKit update features a new direct purchase capability where users can buy Patrón’s core line of tequila through the app
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Now, users of “The Patrón Experience” ARKit app can also send a virtual holiday card right from the app using holiday-themed frames, giving users the ability to have a photobooth on-the-go. The existing camera function has been enhanced with social media integration and a sharing feature, allowing users to share their images directly on social platforms, or save to their camera roll.

Their latest advance sees Patrón adding an action to Google Home, allowing users to “Ask Patron” and talk to Google Home as they would a bartender for cocktail suggestions and tips, gift recommendations, tequila facts and more from the comfort of their home.

Their latest advance adds an action to Google Home, allowing users to Ask Patron for cocktail suggestions and tips
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Patrón is on a journey powered by technology to reimagine how spirits consumers connect with their drinks and the people who make them
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Patrón also currently has this skill via Amazon Alexa and are launching a new skill on Amazon Echo Show, taking advantage of the new platform’s capabilities and featuring:

• An interactive touch display in ddition to the standard voice interaction
• Graphical elements complementing voice interaction (think Echo with a screen) featuring Patrón’s Limited-Edition 1 Liter Holiday Bottle
• The ability for users to find the perfect holiday gift based on their budget and drinking preference
• Helpful tips on how to perfect holiday cocktail-making skills (ex. How do I muddle?) and get Pro-Tip videos from world-class bartenders
• Users will be able to ask the Amazon Echo Show how to craft 400+ different cocktails using tequila

“Using Amazon Alexa Echo Show’s new interactive touch display and standard voice interaction, you begin using the skill by saying “Alexa, Ask Patrón.” Users can Ask Patrón any number of questions such as what cocktail they’ll enjoy based on type, flavor, occasion and ingredients available. Then, consumers can easily make the drink by watching the recipe and hearing and seeing the instructions. You can also learn about Patrón’s offerings and get cocktail-making tips from bartenders. Similar to our new ARKit app update, users can buy Patrón directly through the Echo Show. With the Google Home technology, Patrón officially added an action allowing users to “Ask Patron:” talk to Google Home just like you would a bartender for cocktail suggestions and tips, gift recommendations, tequila facts and more from the comfort of your own home. Very similar to the Alexa skill, but with another widely used technology.”

Users can Ask Patrón any number of questions such as what cocktail they’ll enjoy based on type, flavor, occasion and ingredients available
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So where does Adrian see tech taking customer engagement next?

“In the near future we’ll be physically interacting with our favorite Patrón bartender (bot-tender) as he scans the kitchen to recommend cocktails based on available ingredients. After he demonstrates how to make, shake and drink the cocktail, he’ll start a party playlist for your guests and order more tequila for next time. Patrón is on a journey to totally reimagine how spirits consumers connect with the products they drink and the people who make them, all powered by various technology.” Adrian concluded.

In future we’ll be interacting with our favorite Patrón bot-tender as it scans the kitchen to recommend cocktails based on available ingredients
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Cheers to that!

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Raising a glass to Technology appeared first on Tech Trends.

This iOS Augmented Reality app by the Red Cross shows people what the effects of war would feel like in their home.

VR is often called the “empathy machine” referring to the medium’s unique ability to make you see things from the perspective of another through sheer power of immersion. This makes it ideally suited for telling the story of conflict situations where people might get desensitized towards regular news content, no matter how impacting the imagery might be.

The app provides a visceral experience of war at a family’s doorstep
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Which is what the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hopes to achieve with “Enter the room” – an augmented reality experience for iOS app users:

“We want to humanize war, we want people to look at war not from their comfort zones or through the distance of a news article. We want to generate empathy towards the millions of people who face war every day, a reality which we, at ICRC, bear witness to far too often. Immersive tech like mobile AR can really remove those barriers to understanding and empathizing in a really powerful and immediate way,” says Ariel Rubin, head of digital content at the ICRC.

In a narrative told through the eyes of a child the app provides a visceral, first-person experience of war at a family’s doorstep. Entering through a portal on the screen of their device, the viewer sees what the impact of years of fighting would do to a regular child’s bedroom.

Entering through a portal on the screen of their device, the viewer sees what the impact of years of fighting would do to a regular child’s bedroom
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Around 65 million people are fleeing conflict today, and 75 percent of those affected by these conflicts live in cities, so this is actually very close to the reality experienced by many people around the world every day.

“Using ARKit allows us to literally brings the conflict home to you, it makes it real in a powerful and new way and makes the audience really think about this question: What if this happened to your childhood bedroom, or your son or daughter’s?” asks Rubin. “We spend our lives on our smartphones, walking around with our eyes glued to them, by mapping this virtual reality onto our actual reality – and within that creating a narrative that tells a real story – there’s something incredibly moving about that. I remember seeing all the first case uses of ARKit last September and being inspired by the examples of the different portals people were creating. The idea of building a portal not to a fictional place but to something that’s happening now to families in war-torn cities all over the world really stuck with me,” he adds.

According to Charlotte Lindsey-Curtet, director of communications and information management at the ICRC, this is the first time AR has been used to tell the story of the impact of urban conflict in such a way: “With augmented reality, we can create immersive experiences that showcase the humanitarian situation in a new and deeply moving way.”

“Conflict has devastating impacts on communities, and especially on children. We hope the story told through this immersive app will give people new insights into the realities of war,” says Peter Maurer, President of the ICRC. “It is a vivid reminder of how urban warfare destroys children’s bedrooms, their homes, and – tragically – their lives.”

Enter the room was designed by the digital innovation agency Nedd using Apple ARKit and can be downloaded for free in the Apple store.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Seeing the Realities of War Through AR appeared first on Tech Trends.