This rapidly evolving field could revolutionize aircraft design and manufacture, driving new efficiencies and innovations in an industry known for its precision and technical sophistication.
3D Brings Brands to Life
Let’s jump ahead a few decades to 2017. The executive creative director at the agency that Mr. Ogilvy founded shifted the definition of “brand” away from the product to the consumer, saying that a brand is an experience.
That makes a brand emotional and perceptive, meaning that companies that focus on creating positive experiences for consumers with their brand are inherently nurturing consumers and inspiring brand engagement.
One way that businesses have found to accelerate consumer engagement is with 3D branding. Utilizing large-format 3D printing, companies can bring abstract branding components to life in tangible, super-size models that inspire and compel consumers to engage.
And the results are often spectacular!
While broadcast media may issue messages that establish a brand, 3D branding draws consumers to your brand and even into it.
They Climbed Into The Boot
Ski Deal, a ski-focused travel agency, hosts a week-long festival on snow-capped mountain tops in various European towns each fall, attracting skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts. This year, Ski Deal wanted to include tangible, branded additions to the festivities: giant, 3D-printed goggles, helmet and a snowboard with the main attraction being a massive ski boot.
After carting the over-sized boot up a mountain in Italy’s Campitello Cable car and planting it in the snow, curious crowds and onlookers began to gather around. Skiers and snowboarders sat on it. They stood next to it and took selfies.They climbed inside and took photos. They even danced on and around it!
Ski Deal’s boot gave their brand a tangible component, and throughout the event, participants couldn’t get enough of it. At night, during the week-long after hours parties, the over-sized helmet, goggles, and snowboard also took the spotlight. They attracted lots of attendees, and images made the rounds on social media.
The Allure of the Large
Why are we captivated by large things? Stories of giants like Gulliver, King Kong, and Jack and the Beanstalk transcend cultures and engage from young to old. Maybe that’s the attraction of the boot.
Maybe it’s also the allure of the many other 3D printed characters and models that fabricators and print service providers can now create with a large format 3D printer. Such 3D branding opportunities allow businesses to personify their brand with larger-than-life characters or products that tempt consumers to touch, hug, dance, climb on, climb in, take selfies with, and engage with the brand. What more could a business want?
Sales, of course.
Brand Engagement Generates Sales and More
According to 2017 research by Gallup, the global performance-management consulting company famous for their polls,
“When businesses can provide the meaningful experience their customers want, they realize greater rewards in terms of loyalty and profits.”
Gallup looked at several industries and discovered that when consumers are engaged with the brand, visits increase, sales increase, and overall revenue increases:
- Consumer electronics: 44% more visits/year, 77% more spending per visit
- Retail banking: 37% more annual revenue
- Restaurant (casual dining): 56% more visits/month
- Hospitality: 46% more spending/year
- Insurance: 22% more purchases
Getting consumers to engage with your brand pays off.
Personify Your Brand
A giant chocolate bar or a super-size sweet-toothed animal become relatable, almost human. And we’re attracted to them. Savvy businesses are tapping into this by providing 3D branding experiences for their consumers to touch, feel, and fall in love with their brand.
In a previous blog, we explored a supermarket that uses large format 3D printing to create an immersive and innovative brand experience that engages shoppers throughout the store.
Imagine a game shop. Shelves lined with the latest packaged video games, monitors displaying live action as teens test drive new games, and kids and parents wander the aisles among life-sized characters from popular games like Pokemon and Mario Bros. It’s an immersive, inviting, and exciting brand atmosphere.
Big brands are now using large format 3D branding more and more to assert their image as innovative and cutting-edge.
When was the last time you experienced an immersive, 3D branding experience?
