- NexTech AR Solutions Corp. recently announced it had joined the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s AR board
- This announcement comes at a time when NexTech has been focusing on AR advertising, as seen through the recent launch of its in-house ad network that is similar to Amazon’s and Walmart’s advertisement networks
- NexTech, through its Ad Network, will curate ads for each event based on the theme and will be a marketplace where marketers and advertisers meet their target audiences
- With the company projecting that its revenues will increase in 2021, the fact that the Ad Network has already begun generating ROI means that it is bound to contribute to this revenue growth
Augmented reality (“AR”) has become a real utility. Buoyed by its use in gaming and entertainment in 2019, AR usage has been on an upward trajectory and has now been more broadly adopted in other industries. As a result, a 2020 survey by VR Intelligence revealed that 65% of companies were developing AR solutions for enterprise use, while 37.4% worked on consumer products and software (https://ibn.fm/K2YrX). NexTech AR Solutions (CSE: NTAR) (OTCQB: NEXCF), which falls in the first category, recently launched its Ad Network and announced it had joined the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (“IAB”) AR board.
IAB is the leading trade association whose mandate is to empower the media and players in the marketing industry to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership comprises over 650 leading media companies, brands and technology firms responsible for selling, delivering and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. By joining IAB’s AR board, NexTech will work with industry peers to build industry standards for AR creative formats, performance benchmarking, measurement standards and privacy considerations.
The membership came as NexTech launched its Ad Network, a private marketplace integrated into its hybrid and virtual experience platform that enables marketers and advertisers to meet their target audience more easily than before. Notably, the hybrid and virtual experience platform, launched in 2020, is one of NexTech’s four digital experience platforms, the others being AR Experiences, AR e-commerce and advertising, Hybrid and Virtual Events and Augmented Learning. These four platforms fall into the company’s four business segments, namely AR, e-commerce, virtual events, and 3D/AR advertising.
The hybrid and virtual experience platform targets clients who need stunning virtual meetings, conferences, trade shows and AR experiences. Besides facilitating virtual events, the platform displays targeted ads, thereby promoting engagements and learning opportunities and ensuring advertisers and attendees interact. “Trade shows, consumer expos and professional conferences are the future of targeted, impactful advertising and offer incredibly cost-effective investment to brands,” Hareesh Achi, President of Advertising at NexTech AR, commented (https://ibn.fm/X8IJq).
NexTech curates the ads for each event and subsequently integrates them within the event platform for viewing by attendees. The result is a seamless experience for the event organizers, event sponsors and attendees. For instance, NTAR could display targeted ads from Colgate if it were running a dental convention on its virtual events platform.
“Our strategy,” Evan Gappelberg, NexTech CEO, explained (https://ibn.fm/Sk37B), “is to take our augmented reality tech stack and evolve them into our virtual and hybrid events platform by first building advertising tools for ourselves but then building a self-serve ad tool for everyone and by providing a distribution channel to a captive audience on our platform.” He continued, “With today’s announcement of the successful market launch of our Ad Network, which is capable of 2D, 3D or AR ads, we’ve laid a foundation for this to happen.”
Gappelberg likened NexTech’s approach to its Ad Network to Amazon’s (https://ibn.fm/XtfTP). “When you think of our Ad Network, it’s something that we’re integrating into our own platforms. It’s a very big deal. It’s exactly what Amazon is doing with their ad network, and Amazon generated $8 billion a quarter with their ad network,” he said in a presentation to investors.
AR advertising holds many advantages for the advertisers as it increases engagements by 20% and conversion rates by between 90% and 200% (https://ibn.fm/fnTV5). By integrating this form of advertising into its platform, NexTech ensures that advertisers experience additional benefits as well. For instance, the platform provides a closed-loop attribution and a clean line of sight into high purchasing power and decision-making individuals. This makes tracking high ROI easy.
Hailed as a powerful in-house advertising network for advertisers, brands and sponsors, Ad Network has already begun generating significant ROI for NexTech and is bound to contribute to the forecasted revenue increase. According to Gappelberg, the company’s revenue is projected to increase from $20 million in 2020 to between $50 and $60 million in 2021.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.NextechAR.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to NEXCF are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/NEXCF
About MissionIR
MissionIR is primarily focused on strategic communications. We have executed countless communications programs to address the needs of companies ranging from start-ups to established industry leaders, gaining valuable experience and the expertise necessary to determine the most effective strategy for any given situation.
For more information, visit www.MissionIR.com
MissionIR (MIR)
Atlanta, Georgia
www.MissionIR.com
404.941.8975 Office
Editor@MissionIR.com
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the Mission Investor Relations website applicable to all content provided by MIR, wherever published or re-published: http://www.missionir.com/disclaimer.html
