Air Check-in

Now there is an app that lets parachutists “check in” on Facebook as they free fall through the sky. 😎

Parachuting specialists Sky Company, wanted to promote their Facebook fan page. So with ageisobar Brazil they developed the Air Check-in app [iTunes Link] that allowed users to take pictures during their jump while recording their height. Then based on their 3G reception at the altitude post the details on the users Facebook timeline or store the check-in for later.

The check-in posts made by the app had a link to Sky Company’s Facebook fan page. So this not only helped boost their fan count on Facebook, but also helped increase the number of jumps with their team by 26%.

The above app also brought back memories of another parachuting campaign that was done by hotels.com in September 2011. This time the campaign was centered around the company’s high-speed mobile booking application, which allowed users to book rooms at its network of almost 140,000 hotels worldwide.

To promote their smart phone app they teamed up with extreme athlete and stuntman, JT Holmes, for a wild and exciting digital demonstration to prove just how easy it was to book a room while “on the fly”. 🙂

Catch the Oreo: An Augmented Reality Game

Oreo Cookies to commemorate the first video game created by Ralph H. Baer, has used modern day technology to create an augmented reality game called “Catch the Oreo”. The game is available on Android and iOS devices.

People living in Norway and Denmark are automatically entered into a sweepstake competition by just playing and uploading their high score. There are weekly prizes and the winners are decided by drawing lots.

Competition lasts from 8th of April to 28th of July 2013 (both dates included). So start playing.

Why AR is a good fit for a simple, repeatable game

The charm of “Catch the Oreo” is that it takes a basic arcade mechanic and gives it a physical feeling. AR turns “tap on a screen” into “catch it in your space”, which makes the game feel more immediate and more shareable.

  • Instant understanding. Catch the cookie. Score points. Improve your high score.
  • AR adds novelty without complexity. The camera layer makes it feel new, but the rules stay simple.
  • Replays are built in. High scores naturally invite repeated attempts.

The sweepstake mechanic reduces pressure and increases participation

Weekly prizes and winners drawn by lots changes the psychology. You do not have to be the absolute best player to feel you have a chance. You just have to play and upload.

That is a smart way to broaden participation, especially in markets where you want scale quickly.

Why Norway and Denmark focus matters

By making the sweepstake specific to Norway and Denmark, Oreo can concentrate buzz, prize logistics, and local relevance. It also allows them to measure adoption and participation within a defined footprint.

What to take from this if you run mobile engagement campaigns

  1. Keep the core mechanic simple. AR is the layer. The game rules should be obvious.
  2. Reward participation, not only skill. Lot-based prizes can widen the funnel.
  3. Use time-boxed windows. Fixed dates create urgency and repeat visits.
  4. Make sharing part of the flow. High-score uploads naturally create a distribution loop.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “Catch the Oreo”?

It is an augmented reality mobile game created by Oreo, available on Android and iOS, where players catch Oreos to achieve a high score.

Where was the sweepstake promotion available?

For people living in Norway and Denmark, who were entered automatically by playing and uploading their high score.

How were winners selected?

There were weekly prizes and winners were decided by drawing lots, not purely by highest score.

What were the competition dates?

It ran from 8 April to 28 July 2013, with both dates included.

What is the main lesson for AR marketing?

Use AR to add delight, but keep the underlying mechanic simple and repeatable, then attach incentives that drive replays and sharing.

Augmented Reality. Hyperlinking the real world

A French company called Capturio turns a t-shirt into a business card. You point your phone at what someone is wearing, and the “link” is the fabric itself. No QR code required.

Right after that, Blippar in the UK takes the same idea to printed images. A newspaper page, poster, or pack becomes the trigger. The result is a 3D augmented reality overlay that appears on-screen the moment the image is recognised. Again, no QR code.

Is the end near for the QR code?

QR codes get put to good use in countless innovative projects. But the drift is clearly towards technology that produces similar results without visible codes.

Capturio. A business card you wear

Capturio’s concept is simple. The physical object becomes the identifier. A t-shirt behaves like a clickable surface in the real world.

Blippar. Turning print into a trigger

Blippar creates augmented reality effects from printed images without “activating” anything via a QR code. The interaction is straightforward:

  1. Download a custom app, in this case the Blippar app.
  2. Scan a Blippar-enabled printed image, identifiable by a small Blippar logo, using an iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
  3. Start interacting with the augmented reality 3D overlay on the screen.

Telibrahma. The same pattern shows up in India

In India, Telibrahma uses the same approach to increase experiential engagement for brands via traditional media like newspapers and posters.

Why this matters. Hyperlinking the physical world

The bigger idea is not the novelty of 3D overlays. It is that physical surfaces become links. Clothing, posters, newspaper pages, packaging, storefronts. Anything that can be recognised can behave like a gateway to content, commerce, or interaction.


A few fast answers before you act

What is “hyperlinking the real world” in this post?
Using image recognition and AR so physical objects like shirts, posters, and print behave like clickable links without QR codes.

Which companies are the concrete examples?
Capturio (France), Blippar (UK), and Telibrahma (India).

How does Blippar work at a high level?
Download the app, scan a Blippar-enabled image (marked with a small Blippar logo), then interact with a 3D AR overlay.

What traditional media does this apply to?
Newspapers, posters, and other printed images.