Dive Brief: 

• Audible, the audio storytelling platform owned by Amazon, has launched an out-of-home (OOH) marketing activation that is being billed as the world’s largest global augmented reality (AR) campaign to date, per details shared with Marketing Dive. 
• The campaign leverages GroupM’s WinDOOH tech, or “mass participation AR,” to transform a total of 12 screens in locations across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. into worlds inspired by popular Audible Original and exclusive titles. The effort notably does not require viewers to utilize a mobile device to view the interactive elements. 
• The effort was created with production studio DOOH.com, media agencies GroupM OOH and Wavemaker and creative agency Fold7. The latest move by Audible supports the company’s first-ever global marketing campaign that launched in June.

Dive Insight: 

Audible is bringing storybooks to life with an OOH effort that is expected to be seen by over 60 million people in what is being described as the world’s largest global AR campaign to date, per release details. The effort represents an extension of Audible’s first-ever global marketing campaign that launched June 3 under the tagline “There’s more to imagine when you listen.” 

Furthering that tagline, the AR campaign is meant to demonstrate how the act of putting on a pair of headphones can fuel your imagination and transport you to a version of reality different from your own. To create the experience, production studio DOOH.com used 4K all-weather cameras at each location to take live images of the view behind each of the screens being utilized to create a window illusion displaying a cityscape background on screen. The screen will then transform into worlds inspired by Audible Original and exclusive titles. 

Titles on display include sci-fi thriller “Project Hail Mary” and classic fairy-tale retelling “The Little Mermaid.” In New York City’s Times Square — a flagship location for the ad — viewers will see an underwater scene filled with jellyfish, for example. Key to the experience is the use of GroupM’s WinDOOH technology, which allows for a more accessible consumer experience not reliant on mobile devices, unlike many other AR experiences. The campaign marks the first time WinDOOH has been used on a global scale, per release details. 

The campaign will run for four weeks across the U.S. and Canada and for two weeks across the U.K., with 12 total screens displaying the ad across iconic locations that also include Washington D.C 's National Harbor and London’s Meridian Steps. The effort marks another activation as part of Audible’s recent global campaign, with other moves under the effort also including social media activations and tie-ups with authors, creators, performers and influencers. 

AR has become a popular marketing tool, utilized in recent efforts from brands ranging from Coca-Cola to Honda to Snickers. Beyond its latest move, other marketing from Audible has included a “Fly Audible” campaign inclusive of a 30-second spot inviting viewers to Hogwarts, Gilead, Mars and other destinations of fiction.