From CGI Hype to AR That Sells

CGI has been part of our lives for decades through games and film. Over the last two years, it has moved decisively into advertising and marketing. The stage has shifted from a single TV spot to the phone in your customer’s hand.

In that world, you have seconds, not minutes.

Our CGI campaigns regularly reach millions organically. They travel because the moments feel real enough to believe and bold enough to share. If it makes you look twice and send it to a mate, we are on the right track.

How CGI is working now

CGI works best when it feels real and useful. Think social moments that look plausible on familiar streets, so people stop, question what they are seeing and share it. That attention is anchored by product clarity delivered in seconds. Cutaways and texture close-ups show quality, scale and how something works.

The brands getting the most value are not treating CGI as a one-off. They build a system. A premium 3D master asset is created once, then adapted across social, digital OOH and product pages. The same asset supports sales decks and PR.

That shift explains why CGI has surged over the past two years. It has moved from cinematic polish to practical, repeatable brand tools designed for the feed.

Which leads to the natural question. What is next?

The next step: AR that helps people buy

Augmented Reality is the logical evolution. It is web and games-based technology meeting marketing where customers already are.

CGI earns attention. AR turns attention into participation.

It lets people try, place and understand a product in their own space, on their own phone, shortening the path to yes. Think of CGI as the spark and AR as the follow-through.

Where AR delivers value

AR turns interest into action across the customer journey.

With connected packaging, a quick scan opens a browser-based experience that shows the product in 3D, offers care tips and suggests compatible accessories. Packaging stops being the end of the journey and becomes the start of a relationship.

As a field sales tool, AR becomes a portable showroom. Products are placed at true scale in a client’s space, finishes are switched live and internals are revealed. When everyone sees the same thing in context, objections drop and sign-off speeds up.

In ecommerce and retail, try-at-home reduces uncertainty. A sofa in the living room. A façade finish on a house. A bottle on a shelf. The result is stronger add-to-basket rates and fewer returns because expectations are set before purchase.

What this means for Northern Ireland brands

Social-first CGI delivers outsized organic reach when it blends the familiar with the impossible, proving what is possible even without heavy media spend. AR then drives conversion by answering “will this work for me?” in a tap.

A single high-quality 3D asset now works across social, web, sales and events, so value compounds rather than vanishing after one placement.

Why use CGI and AR in 2026

Because the market has shifted.

Buyers research on mobile. As privacy rules tighten, traditional ad targeting is losing effectiveness. Teams need attention and clarity. CGI delivers speed and control. Build once, tailor everywhere.

AR turns that attention into action by letting people try, place and understand products in their own space. Just as importantly, AR is measurable. Brands can track total views and unique users, dwell time, device usage, geographic reach, time-based trends and custom interactions, with data export available for reporting.

The bottom line

CGI is not new. The use case is.

When you design for mobile first, you are forced to simplify the story, reuse assets more effectively and raise the quality of the final output. Add AR and attention becomes action. A product placed in a room. A confident step towards purchase.

For Northern Ireland brands, this is a practical path to growth and a better customer experience in a market that rewards both creativity and clarity.

If you would like to see how this could work for your next launch, packaging refresh or event, we would love to talk. At SQUINT Creative, we build campaigns people remember.