McCormick?s Old Bay is using augmented reality to bring its logo and packaging to life with a campaign that lets users interact with the brand through gaming and recipe ideas.

Old Bay is using the Blippar app for this initiative. The augmented reality portion of the campaign is part of Old Bay?s Summer of Baytrioism multichannel campaign that also includes radio and out-of-home  marketing.

?Old Bay fans are proud to display their love of the brand through Old Bay tattoos, Old Bay-themed wedding cakes and lots more,? said Jill Pratt, vice president of marketing for McCormick & Company, Sparks, MD.

?With this new technology, we have an exciting, unique way to engage with our loyal Old Bay fans right at their fingertips wherever they are,? she said. ?That's a powerful brand connection that extends way beyond the product usage.? 

Branded content
The Old Bay augmented reality campaign lives inside the Blippar application. The app is available for iPhone and iPad devices. A beta version of the Android app can be downloaded from Google Play.

The app uses a mobile device?s built-in camera to recognize brand logos and images. Old Bay claims to be the first consumer product to use Blippar in the United States.

When consumers scan the Old Bay logo, an image jumps onto the screen that prompts users to answer trivia questions, play games, ?Like? the brand?s Facebook page or view the recipe book.

The recipe book is comprised of seven recipes that include Old Bay seasoning such as shrimp scampi and crab cakes. Each recipe includes a landing page with step-by-step recipe instructions as well as information on prep time and ingredients.

Users can also play games and answer trivia questions that include the brand and its history.

As part of the Summer of Baytrioism, Old Bay has also rolled out branded coasters to bars and restaurants in Baltimore that feature the company?s logo. The brand is encouraging consumers to use the Blippar app in conjunction with the coasters, which is a great way to build mobile engagement on top of existing marketing collateral.

The wack-a-crab mobile game

Summer engagement
This is not McCormick?s first summer-themed mobile campaign.

Last summer, McCormick?s ran a location-based campaign with foursquare as part of a competition that let grillers vie for a chance to win prizes throughout the summer by checking in to their backyards.

The campaign also included a Facebook app that aggregated Facebook ?Likes,? comments and activity to create customized circles of friends that consumers can invite to their own backyard grill parties (see story).

?Mobile is a part of every marketing campaign at McCormick,? Ms. Pratt said. ?We are aggressively shifting our marketing mix to non-traditional vehicles, which includes mobile.?

?At McCormick, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to share our passion for flavor and deepen the engagement with our consumers, connecting with them one-on-one with unique experiences where they are spending significant time,? she said. ?With mobile we can reach, engage and reward our loyal fans and create opportunities for them to be our brand ambassadors.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York