Level-up Your Marketing: Best Valentine’s Day AR Filters

As the month of love, it’s no surprise that February is so close to our hearts. Right after the magical Christmas time, and motivation-boosting New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day is yet another date marked in all of the marketers’ calendars.

Looking for new, creative ways to introduce or market your products and at the same time make them match the specific theme might seem problematic, but here’s where innovation steps – try Augmented Reality and allow your audience to spread their messages of love with your AR filter, while boosting your UGC production through the roof.

Why Augmented Reality?

AR filters have little to no boundaries, which, for most marketers, is one of the most important aspects. Augmented reality allows users to transform the world around them, both for content creation purposes or the experience of digital and IRL colliding itself, but also for practical reasons, like trying on clothes or makeup from the comfort of their own home. Wondering which hair colour would look the best on you? AR is a perfect tool for that.

Even looking at most of the business 2024 predictions, many claim that Virtual Reality, mixed reality and AR will become essential for creating the perfect customer experience. According to the reports from 2023, AR communication is bringing the brands 200% more engagement, with the increase of the market’s worth to $50B in 2024.

Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to use AR filters for one more reason. As the holiday is based on love, happiness and overall positive energy, it’s important to choose the perfect way to express it. Augmented reality allows users to share their feelings in the most creative ways, and bring the magic alive into reality. And many industries have already recognized this potential – with great success.

AR Examples of Valentine’s Day Branded Filters

Escada Fragrance’s AR challenge

We often hear in songs that love is a game… and this time it’s true! In its February campaign, Escada Fragrance bet on the gamified experience, encouraging potential customers to connect in real life through the AR filter. To collect points in the Fairy Love Challenge, users have to scan as many faces as possible and see how their heads turn into big, 3D hearts.

The brand, in collaboration with @filtre_experience, focused solely on increasing the users’ engagement and at the same time strengthening the relationship with its audience, instead of the plain product advertisement. And the results were truly amazing!

Xiaomi’s Valentines

Similarly, Xiaomi decided to create an interactive AR game but used this opportunity to also advertise its products. Need a Valentine’s Day gift inspiration? Augmented reality will help you decide on the perfect present for your loved ones. The game is based on head tracking, allowing users to steer the game simply by tilting their heads and collecting points with each product landing in the basket.

With mobile devices being an inseparable element of our lives, it’s no wonder that the campaign reached new customers all over the world, reducing the distance between the brand and the users.

Interactive AR Valentine’s card by Netflix

Among all of the Valentine’s Day AR Features, Netflix’s project can easily be named one of the most creative ones. The experience, created by @lens.that, focused on connecting the physical world with digital features, allowing users to interact with the surroundings in real-time.

The digital experience was connected to the artistic murals in the centre of Warsaw, Poland with a QR code, which allowed users to create a personalised Valentine’s card and see it on the side of the building. All cards are related to the most popular TV shows, making it a perfect way to promote the offer with a fun, interactive AR filter for the brand’s audience.

Ladurée’s AR filter

As everyone knows, pastry is the best kind of Valentine’s Day gift – especially if it’s from Ladurée. The brand celebrates Valentine’s Day by decorating its iconic store with AR, allowing users to interact with the real environment and overlaying love-themed virtual objects.

The AR experience, available from everywhere, enables users to interact not only with the physical environment of the store but also with the real world around them. This way customers can connect with the brand through digital content and learn about the brand, even if it’s not accessible on a daily basis. This proves that augmented reality technology is the best way to create connections between the brand and a customer, even from far away.

AR Valentines with Michael Kors

Among the AR examples of Valentine’s Day interactive experiences, we couldn’t miss Michael Kors, which is already known for mixing real and virtual worlds. The luxury fashion designer allows users to create an animated card using the AR filter designed by @nahir.esper.

The AR effect has no visible branding, making it more universal and easier for the users to enjoy the filter without a feel of taking part in product advertisement – which was a great move from Michael Kors, allowing more people to interact with the AR experience, and as a result generating more impressions and engagement overall.

Valentine’s Day Randomizers

We can confidently say that randomizers are still the most popular use case for engaging customers with AR. Most of the time the key to a successful campaign is to give your customers what they want, and a well-made Randomizer AR filter can do just that – the experience is simple, intuitive and reaction worthy – perfect for further content creation.

After all, everybody likes to hear about themselves, whether it’s a Valentine’s Day prediction or a name love meter with your crush. With randomizer AR filters the possibilities are endless, and social media users are known fans of those features.

For example, retailers like Rogers Jewelry or eBay use AR randomizers to help their customers choose the perfect gift for their significant other, while Marks and Spencer focuses on self-love, suggesting ways to make yourself feel special. Some, like Student Bean, can even predict the future, showing the user what’s exactly going to happen on this special day. Users don’t even have to be worried about choosing the soundtrack for their romance: the AR filter from Spotify will pick the perfect song!