Just yesterday, Best Buy ran full spreads in the nation’s top newspapers. No, it’s not what you think–nothing terrible had happened requiring a public apology, nor did the company want to dispel a myth or public rumor. The retailer was simply promoting the fact that they have something more to offer their customers: “happiness.” The advertisement was not promoting any product or service offering; rather, it was communicating the value that Best Buy has built into their brand. It’s about an experience that extends to all touchpoints. Twelpforce, for example, is a Twitter-based customer service line that extends the reach of the ”blue shirt” to thousands. Best Buy IdeaX (idea exchange) is a Web-based communication tool where customers can provide the ideas they think would help improve the buying experience, and many of those ideas are actually being realized and integrated.

And this leads me to the latest customer touch point that Modern Climate has helped produce for Best Buy. Last week the Digital Blue Shirt platform was launched in the Roseville and Minnetonka stores. The idea here is to provide the on-floor staff an added touch point to help the customer find the perfect computer. We all know that given too many choices and options, most of us tend to lock up and become disengaged. Having four or five choices is much more manageable than, say, 15 or 20. So the Digital Blue Shirt touch interactive will ask a few simple questions. In just a couple of minutes, the entire catalog of computers is distilled to the best match. Now, a comparison of features gives the customer the ability to make a decision and feel confident in it. After all, choosing the right product is what Best Buy is all about. It says so in their tagline, “Buyer be happy.”

The Digital Blue Shirt is a great example of how a brand not only says it cares about its customers, but it actually goes to the full extent to provide the experiences that make the promise a reality. Which is why the latest Best Buy advertisement is so great. It makes the brand relevant in its authenticity. It’s also the reason why Best Buy will win over the other category brands.

Last Sunday the Best Buy newspaper insert contained a marker that launched the retailers first augmented reality (AR) experience. We worked with Best Buy to develop the concept, which we hope pushes boundary between traditional and new mediums. It actually connects the two in a new way, and that’s pretty exciting. I think it’s great that Best Buy is pushing the envelope and innovating; across many customer touchpoints.

See it at: www.bestbuyin3d.com

We used FLAR for the recognition platform. It uses a box-shaped marker to initiate the 3D experience. If it sees the marker, it follows the marker. It’s a cool platform that works well. You’ve probably seen it used on other AR sites like GE’s wind turbine. Anther cool element was the integration of live tweets pulled in from TwelpForce, Best Buy’s customer-centric Q&A service using Twitter’s micro-blogging community as the platform. Another example of Best Buy utilizing technology for useful touchpoints.

Augmented Reality is not for everyone. I tried to explain it to my neighbor and he was totally confused. “It does what? And wait, it comes out of the paper how?” It was like the old “who’s on first?” Abbott and Costello bit. But think of the tech-savvy who look to Best Buy for innovation and support. These are actually their best customers and this experience is a new and exciting way to interact with the brand. For now, AR is more about pushing into new uncharted territory, rather than refining the online experience. It’s about something new and different. Part of the entertainment value is the fact that you’re participating in an experiment, doing something you’ve never done before.

Who knows where the technology will go from here. Marker-less platforms using facial recognition or image-based technology are simplifying the experience. No need for a paper-based marker. The possibilities and adaptations will probably surprise us all. It should be a wild and entertaining ride.