Source: AdGully

Ever swiped left on an ad? Ignored a marketing email? Skipped a YouTube ad before even noticing what it was about? You’re not alone.

Customers today have the attention span of a T20 match—fast-paced, unpredictable, and always looking for the next big thrill. If your marketing isn’t exciting enough, they won’t just scroll past it—they’ll swipe it out of existence.

The rules of engagement have changed. Traditional marketing still has its moments, but if brands want to influence customer behaviour, drive loyalty, and boost conversions, they need more than just visibility—they need experience, interaction, and impact. That’s where Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and gamification step in, transforming marketing from a monologue into a dynamic, two-way experience.

Customers Don’t Want Ads—They Want Experiences

Marketing today isn’t just about getting in front of customers—it’s about pulling them in and making them part of the experience. And here’s the kicker: According to a recent report by Capgemini Research Institute 71% of the customers want AI to be integrated into their purchase decisions.

It’s simple, engagement drives action. If a campaign makes a customer feel something, they’re more likely to do something.

Take the Coca-Cola “Share a Coke” campaign—AI made it hyper-personalized, using real-time data to tailor content and offers. The result? Massive social engagement, skyrocketing sales, and customers who felt like Coke was talking directly to them.

Meanwhile, AR and VR are changing how customers interact with brands. Sporting events like the IPL have become a testing ground for immersive marketing.

Jio Fantasy Cricket turned passive viewers into active participants by letting users build their own virtual cricket teams, make real-time predictions, and engage with live stats. It wasn’t just a campaign—it was an experience that kept fans hooked all season.

The takeaway? Customers don’t just want to watch – they want to play, participate, and feel involved.

Kellogg’s Pringles AR Cricket Campaign took fan engagement to a whole new level during IPL 2020. Using an innovative AR filter, Pringles transformed their chips into six unique cricket fans, encouraging users to participate in the IPL frenzy virtually. With facial gesture recognition, every time a user opened their mouth, the Pringle characters raised their hands, simulating a Mexican wave against a background of roaring stadium cheers. Thus, proving that interactive technology can enhance fan engagement in a way traditional ads simply can’t.

The takeaway? Customers don’t just want to watch—they want to play, participate, and feel involved.

Gamification: The Future of Brand Engagement

People spend hours playing mobile games because they love winning, competing, and unlocking rewards. This same psychological appeal is why gamification has become a go-to strategy for brands aiming to engage customers effectively. Customers feel rewarded for their actions, stay motivated through leaderboards and challenges, and develop deeper brand connections the more they engage.

In fact, a leading research showed that 70% of the businesses in the Global 2000 companies have adopted gamification in their strategy.

Remember some IPLs ago when Cadbury ran a cricket campaign called Cadbury Cricket? Their platform not only drove sales by engaging their customers with Trivia, Predict & Win, Referrals, and Digital Scorecards, it also brought a beautiful narrative into play honouring the ground staff.

Let’s face it—marketing isn’t what it used to be. Static ads? Scrolled past. Generic emails? Sent straight to spam. If your brand isn’t creating experiences that make people stop, engage, and actually enjoy interacting with you, you’re missing out.

AI, AR/VR, and gamification aren’t just buzzwords; they’re the secret sauce to keeping customers hooked. Whether it’s an AR-powered cricket game, a loyalty program that turns purchases into play, or AI-driven personalization that feels almost too accurate, brands that embrace this shift are the ones that will win hearts (and wallets).

Marketing is no longer just about being seen; it’s about being swiped right. Customers are making split-second decisions—will your brand get a second look, or will it be lost in the endless scroll?