Navigating the AR Media Frontier: 6 B2B Marketing Building Blocks
December 10, 2025 · By Paula Chiocchi · 2 min read
By Paula Chiocchi · December 10, 2025
Recently on Dylan Conroy's Ad Podcast, I had the opportunity to participate in a deep-dive discussion about a movement that is advancing quickly but still widely misunderstood: augmented reality (AR) as a media environment. Talking with both Dylan and the featured guest, Peter Pinfold, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Darabase, the conversation explored the challenges and opportunities brands face as they enter this exciting new media frontier.
AR is moving from novelty to infrastructure—slowly but meaningfully
Peter explained that Darabase is building what he describes as "the world's first augmented reality media network." The goal is straightforward: enable AR ads to be served programmatically in the real world, while ensuring property owners and publishers are compensated. That media infrastructure mirrors how traditional out-of-home works today—just in a digital overlay rather than a physical surface.
The AR ecosystem is still the Wild West—and that creates both risk and opportunity
One of the clearest themes in Peter's comments was the lack of permission and regulation in today's AR environment. Right now, as he explained, anyone can anchor AR content on a property—even without the owner's consent.
Clean data is the foundation of any future AR activation
During the conversation, I emphasized the importance of clean, accurate B2B data to fuel your audience building—because even in emerging spaces, this principle remains constant. Marketers need:
The AR market is growing—but adoption will take time
AR advertising today: estimated at $5.2B AR industry size: projected to reach nearly $92B by 2030
Permissioned AR will ultimately protect marketers, brands, and consumers
Peter explained Darabase's introduction of Property Digital Rights—a system that allows property owners to claim and monetize their digital "air rights" in AR environments.
Even in AR's early stages, the lessons apply to today's B2B marketing challenges
For me, one of the most stunning parts of the discussion was not specific to AR. It was about the shared frustration around outbound marketing overload – especially email. Many executives are receiving hundreds of cold outreach messages per day, often driven by AI tools sending 10,000 emails at a time.
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