3 Ways Google Glass Can Revolutionize Marketing

It’s all with the blink of an eye.

Kenneth Cole was the first brand to dive into marketing with Google Glass to promote its new fragrance, Mankind. The campaign includes the app Man Up for Mankind Challenge and tests men to do one good deed every day for three weeks to win a $1,000 Mankind toolkit.

With this new Google Glass information – previously Google stated its eyewear would not be a platform for advertising – the doors seem to open for marketers to take advantage of users’ need for easily accessible information in real time and at any time.

1. Advertise with augmented reality

In early March, augmented reality app Blippar debuted its image recognition technology for Glass at the 2014 Mobile World Congress. The first app of its kind to allow for marketing on Glass, Blippar’s image-recognition app will allow consumers to interact with everyday products.

One of the keys to marketing is getting in front of your target audience at the moment they’re interested in your product. For example, if a consumer is looking at a restaurant while wearing Glass, that restaurant could have an app that would pop up as a coupon for certain dishes.

Barcode scanning is also another huge opportunity for businesses to take advantage of the information Glass can bring to the consumer. If a customer is grocery shopping and looks at a barcode on an item, marketers can include recipe ideas, coupons or other points of value to encourage the purchase.

2. Wave goodbye to credit cards

With the potential interaction of Glass with Google Wallet, the ability to make purchases can be as simple as the wave of a hand or the blink of an eye. Instead of reaching for your phone or debit/credit card, the incorporation of Wallet with Glass makes it easier for consumers to make online or in-store purchases.

We probably won’t see large-scale integration until more businesses have apps or mobile sites that allow for payments with Google Wallet.

3. IRL (in real life) and online actions begin to merge

With Glass, we can finally lose the zombie-like stare we all have while using our smartphones or tablets. The freedom – and the appeal – of Glass is that it’s hands-free technology. Simply winking could take a picture or video.

Get help with directions or a recipe just by saying “ok Glass.” It frees your hands and eyes to concentrate on what you’re doing while Google’s voice recognition does the rest.

Glass’s integration with everyday life gives advertisers the chance to put their product in front of the consumer when they’re in the right moment to receive it. Imagine Heinz sending you recipe ideas while you’re cooking dinner. Or nearby restaurants offering you a discount as you drive by their location.

The amount of consumer information and activity that can be gleaned from Glass is mindboggling. If used properly and time-effectively, marketers have the opportunity to reach consumers on an unprecedented micro level.