Christmas AR Magic: 7 Luxury Brands Redefining Marketing
See how some of the biggest luxury brands are turning the holiday magic into immersive experiences with Christmas AR Filters.
While we decorate the Christmas tree with friends and family, many brands spend this time looking for a way to bring the North Pole magic to our homes. The importance of the right campaign was proven years ago with the Christmas campaign by Coca-Cola, which, thanks to the iconic red trucks, already became the inseparable element of the Holidays.
But how can marketers celebrate holidays and bring the magic to life?
Luxury brands and AR filters
Each year, as the magical holiday Season is coming closer, retailers from all over the globe are competing for the best Christmas-themed marketing ideas. Many of them aim to engage the users through innovative augmented reality experiences, whether through an App or a QR code, to increase sales right before the year’s end. And luxury retailers are no strangers to innovation – despite their connection to class and elegance.
At first, high fashion and technology might sound like a bad match, but there are many advantages of that pairing. After all, using AR filters in a marketing campaign can help retailers reach new audiences, which is especially important for luxury brands, usually associated with something out of reach for a regular consumer. Online filters, available on all smartphones, make the brand more accessible. Especially among Gen Z (known also as digital natives) which is a huge part of the market and a main target for all communication that involves technology.
And what’s better way to make Christmas magic come alive than with the possibilities of fun AR filters?
Best Christmas AR campaigns
Dior
The French luxury fashion house has already made its name in the AR game, especially during Christmas. Last year we had an opportunity to talk with BUCK, the creative agency responsible for creating the Atelier of Dreams – a truly wondrous augmented reality campaign with immersive experiences that immerse you in the digital Christmas realm.
But Dior is reaching even further. For years, the Christmas campaigns have connected the brands’ signature elegance with the newest technology, transporting the user to the wondrous world of high-quality products. Most of their Christmas filters are based on the target tracking feature, bringing to life products, packaging or even the flagship store itself.
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Lancôme
In 2022 Lancôme joined the augmented reality game and collaborated with Wilkins Avenue AR on launching the all-in-one WebAR Christmas campaign. The filter engages the user, by allowing them to create their own avatar and complete a set of mini-quests in the aesthetically designed experience, to provide them with a unique discount code at the end.
To get the code, customers have to walk through the digital miniature store and learn more about Lancôme’s story, making it a great way to get the user’s attention and make them remember the brand.
Yves Saint Laurent
YSL Beauty took a simpler, but still impressive approach. They focused on promoting their products in the form of an elegant AR Experience, that transports the user into the world of Christmas wonders. The augmented reality Christmas campaign, using a plane tracking feature, is available on Instagram for users around the world, allowing them to create their own, wondrous ambience.
YSL Beauty Holiday (by Atomic Digital Design) and YSL Libre (by Kim Fyiala) were both designed to promote the Holiday Libre collection and while they took slightly different approaches, both of them highlighted the Christmas spirit in the elegant, luxurious and digital way.
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Tissot
Tissot is a luxury watch brand that, despite their signature elegance, is not afraid to reach for new media in the marketing game, including augmented reality. Their idea of the Christmas effects, however, is quite creative. Can’t think of a present idea for friends or loved ones? This filter will help you decide.
The 2022 holiday campaign, designed with Wilkins Avenue AR, was made to spark some incredible gift ideas in the heads of customers through suggestions of their best products. Similarly to Lancôme, the Gifing AR Experience is also web-based, allowing customers to reach the filter without additional social media apps.
Harry Winston
We talked about beauty, fashion, and accessories, and now it’s time to take a look at how luxury jewellery designers are using the magic of the holiday season.
Like Dior and YSL, the American designer is betting on the AR experience, supporting the brand’s base: elegance and class. Those magical AR experiences are bringing to life the most recognizable landscapes from all over the world, including the flagship store of the retailer, allowing users to create the most luxurious Christmas cards.
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Neiman Marcus
The American retailer, offering products from luxury fashion houses like Christian Louboutin, Burberry, Michael Kors and more, connects the Christmas spirit with the retailer’s history through aesthetic and interactive AR experiences. Customize your digital Christmas tree most elegantly, or browse through the photos in the brand’s Christmas book from the comfort of the place you’re already in. All you have to do is reach for your smartphone and open the Instagram app.
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Coach
Can luxury be fun? Of course! Coach, similarly to Neiman Marcus, is providing their customers with products from luxury designers, but is specializing in bags, wallets and accessories. What’s different about the brand, however, is not just the products they offer.
With their idea of holiday AR effects, they took a slightly different approach, focusing on the modern, interactive character of Augmented Reality. The company created different kinds of amazing experiences, engaging the users to interact with the brand through features like randomizer, transforming face masks and interactive 3D objects.
Advantages of AR during the Holiday Season
Christmas effects, whether in the form of transforming face filters or games that engage the users, are the perfect tool to underline the true magic of Christmas. Augmented Reality can both entertain the shoppers, as well as create a magical AR world of Christmas decorations, allowing children and adults to play with the stars, snow, or a digital Santa Claus.
Not to mention the unusual bond that Augmented reality creates between the company and the customer just by allowing users to spend time on the filter and generate impressions. And with so many possibilities, the final look of the campaign is limited only by your own creativity.
You’ll find more examples of Christmas-themed AR filters in our AR Search Engine. Click here to create an account or here to learn more!