Ad agency OgilvyOne Athens has created another innovative campaign for Lacta Chocolate. This time consumers are able to write their own love messages and see them appear on real Lacta Chocolate bars though an augmented reality mobile app…

Click here to view some of the past Lacta Chocolate campaigns that are equally innovative.

In 2010 I had covered how Nokia was collaborating with Burton Snowboards, to create a new type of connected snowboarding experience.

Since then Vail Resort USA has created a RFID based platform that can be accessed from any device. Their app is called EpicMix and together with the slopes RFID lift ticket system captures the users skiing/boarding activities on the slopes and automatically uploads them to their EpicMix dashboard…

This season (2011/12) they have re-designed their app, created more badges (like Foursquare) and integrated the resort photographer’s photos to seamlessly appear in the users EpicMix account…

The Augmented Reality technology has come a long way over the last couple of years. Brands from around the world have been actively using it in their campaigns to engage their target audience. Still we are yet to see it play an everyday role in our life's.

A recent video released by Hidden Creative shows how cellphones or a digital devices can be used to scan ones surrounding and get live information on the spot. The video also demonstrates how augmented reality can overlay objects in a real-life space to help users with renovations by virtually rearranging furniture or configuring the colors virtually...

But before we even get to a future like this, companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft/Nokia, along with their developers, will need to standardize the Augmented Reality experience on their respective platforms. One master app that runs across all the platforms could be the start as right now the app stores are cluttered with a large number of Augmented Reality apps.

Is the end near for the QR code? It has been put to good use in countless innovative projects, but recently I am starting to see a drift towards technology that can produce similar results without the codes.

French company Capturio, lets users turn their t-shirts into a business card! Now Blippar in UK is creating augmented reality effects from printed images without any activation from a QR code. All the users needs to do is:

1. download a custom app...in this case its from Blippar
2. scan a Blippar enabled printed image (identifiable by a small Blippar logo) with their iPhone, iPad or Android device
3. and begin interaction with the augmented reality 3D overlay seen on the screen...

In India I have seen Telibrahma using the same technology to increase the experiential engagements of brands via traditional mediums i.e. newspapers, posters etc.

For the last two years in a row, SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) has won the award for being Europe's most punctual airline. With their ad agency SWE Advertising Stockholm, they created a great little time wasting utility app that isn't actually made for its loyal customers, but for their competitor airline customers.

The idea was to poke a little fun at SAS' competitor airlines by suggesting to their customers that they'll need this app from SAS because chances are, their flight will be delayed and they will need something to kill their time with…

Subway was facing massive competition from other fast food chains in China. Mobile agency iconmobile was given the task to claim the mindsets of their target audience in an innovative way that also triggered sales.

A mobile game was created to let users step into the role of a subway delivery guy. Rather than just providing an emotional benefit, the app also included...

• a map that provided direction to shops nearby
• a click-2-call order function
• a mobile coupon channel to trigger sales according to the users behaviour

GoldRun and Young & Rubicam have created the world's first invisible pop-up store, bringing limited edition Airwalk sneakers directly to the biggest skate & surf spots in the country. Sneakerheads and skaters alike visited the virtual store at Washington Square Park in NYC and Venice Beach in LA.

The Golf Cabriolet is back after 9 years of absence, since production was stopped in 2002. Volkswagen together with Paris based agency 'Agency.V.' have come up with the worlds first augmented reality car showroom app for the iPad2, iPhone and Android.

The app lets you explore the vehicle and play with it's features like opening the soft-top roof, rotating the car, checking the vehicle's details, changing the body colour or the style of the rims. You can even take a picture of yourself with the virtual car and share each step of this experience through your social networks.

iPhone and iPad 2 users can download the app from the French iTunes Store. Android users can do the same at the Android market.

Ogilvy Interactive has developed a "Singles Finder App" for Zonacitas.com, a major Argentinian dating portal. Their concept was simple..."Love is out there. If we get organized, there's plenty for all".

With Buenos Aires being one of the cities with the best nightlife in the world, having thousands of bars, discos and pubs to choose from can be a problem. All these options make it difficult to find and meet single men and women. With the "Singles Finder", a free Smartphone App for the iPhone, users were able to get the exact amount of single prospects in each location. The best part was that they knew where to go well before.

Thousands of Hong Kong's alternative music fans crave the raw energy, focus, passion and participation of a live performance. Zoo Records, Hong Kong's most celebrated alternative music store faced the challenge to bring this live experience directly to the fans.

Zoo Records with Leo Burnett Hong Kong created a campaign called "Hidden Live" that went on to became the world's first live mobile music festival!

As a result more than 10,000 people packed into the festival each night and countless more got involved as constant clips were shared online. Zoo Records sold out 80 percent of the albums for those eight performing bands. But most importantly, alternative music came alive in tens of thousands of venues all over Hong Kong.