Interactive 3D Ad Using Augmented Reality Brings Bank’s World to Life

Commonwealth Bank in Australia has created an “augmented reality” application called the “CommBank Property Guide” to help their customers select a new home. Augmented reality is an emerging technology utilizing mobile phone GPS data to identify a user’s location, combined with contextual information layered on top of a user’s iPhone screen in real-time. Commonwealth’s application provides buyers with property information to assist when looking at property by simply pointing their iPhone in a specific direction. The app then identifies properties for sale in that direction or specific data on a particular property. The bank has also taken an innovative approach to promoting the CommBank Property Guide.

Commonwealth Bank has run a mobile-driven, augmented reality advertisement in key Australian markets. The ad, placed in a number of Australian newspapers, invites readers to download the CommBank 3D reader app so they can explore Cherryford Hill, an interactive virtual town. In this digital world, users can interact, move around, and explore the features of the award-winning CommBank Property Guide app.

“The augmented reality press advertisement is an interactive way to communicate the benefits of the CommBank Property Guide app to the customer,” said Mark Murray, GM/Consumer Marketing at Commonwealth Bank.

Commonwealth Bank’s campaign represents a bizarre marriage of old and new media channels, where traditional print advertising is used to deliver a digitally-interactive ad. You can’t have one without the other; it takes both a newspaper and smartphone — one communications technology from the 17^th century, the other from the 21^st.

For more information on how the ad was designed, read the article in TheFinancialBrand.com: http://thefinancialbrand.com/17766/commonwealth-bank-augmented-reality-iphone-ad/

To learn more about the application itself: http://www.commbank.com.au/about-us/…e/default.aspx
For information on other bank specific augmented reality applications, read this article about Addison Avenue FCU’s application for locating ATMs: http://thefinancialbrand.com/11780/addison-avenue-iphone-atm-locator/