Next emerging channel: our bodies
Can AR change our bodies into digital billboards?
Imagine you’re walking down the street. You’re wearing your new set of AR headwear. Perhaps it’s glasses. Eventually it’s contact lenses. No matter the affordance, we’re on a course in the next 5 years to place a digital information layer directly in front of our eyes with both Apple and Google signaling a move in this direction.
There’s some super obvious benefits of wearing a set of AR glasses. As you walk past someone, you might get help remembering someone’s name and how you know them (ah, that’s Deanna from the soccer game last night!). Or you might seamlessly get nudged with directions to take a shorter route to work or avoid getting in the way of emergency vehicles.
But one of my favorite things to imagine is how a tool like this might be used by the creator economy. This group of savvy self marketers understands branding. They embrace the notion “hero of my own story” and thanks to social media platforms like TikTok, don’t believe you have to be a mega-influencer to suddenly influence.
That’s where AR glasses get interesting. Imagine that as you pass someone, they’ve tagged themselves with what they’re wearing as well as the products they use on their skin and hair. They might also opt to telegraph what music they’re listening to or the last article they read.
You might admire their shoes, and opt to see this information because you like the look. But pair that tag with affiliate marketing, and suddenly every person can be their own walking, talking revenue stream. What you wear (and wear with flair) you can sell.
What this means for brands
Where you buy won’t matter as much as who you buy from. Imagine the software (which might be built on a peer-to-peer decentralized platform) enables the street creator to send you a thanks or invite you to their next live shopping event.
Values will continue to matter a lot — whether environmental, communal or economical. People who want credit for sustainability will want all they wear to fulfill that mission. Someone may proudly combine high/low to not seem too consumerist. You might even be able to buy the very one off their back (washed and shipped to you later), so they become a walking runway for the latest looks.
Moreover, limited access and uniqueness may trump mass. Without massive funding, a small clothing line, fragrance brand, or accessory company can flaunt their wears. The idea of see and be seen takes on whole new meaning.
An interesting benefit of this kind of marketing is that it’s actually IRL. Instead of the heavily retouched content online, you see someone genuinely boosting a product they’re actually using.
Will this really happen?
Getting the future 100% right isn’t probable. But what I look for is convergent signals. First signal: hardware. We’re likely within 5 years of a legitimate piece of hardware offering always-on AR. And with Apple in the mix, it takes this from tech hardware to luxury accessessory.
Next signal is people. Being willing to broadcast products and brands in real time feels like a natural extension of Venmo where people publish when they pay their friends back or Spotify where you can see what people are listening to.
And finally, there’s the increasingly powerful creator economy. Just this month Walmart announced a creator platform that lets you earn through affiliate sales. Suddenly, this idea doesn’t seem surprising or out of reach at all. It just makes sense.