In today’s digital age, consumers constantly are staying connected with their favorite brands through various social media platforms and unique engagement opportunities. Because the “connected consumer” now is so prevalent, brands have had to ramp up their engagement in order to stay top of mind in today’s cluttered marketplace.

“While brands have been aware of social media for more than a decade, the traditional means of connecting with current and potential targets has grown stale,” says Jaclyn Osterloh, account director at Sparkloft Media, in a statement. “No longer is a simple organic post going to generate a strong engagement to impact sales.

“Social media is a change-maker due to the tremendous potential for storytelling, building excitement and actually inviting consumers to try a new product, rather than telling them why they need to buy,” she continues. “We’re not constantly encouraging to buy, buy, buy, we’re welcoming and followers to participate in our journey.”

Beverage brands are among the companies welcoming fans to participate in the journey.

For example, Flow Alkaline Spring Water unveiled an interactive augmented reality mirror as part of its new on-premise marketing strategy. The technology, powered by memomi, brings to life Flow’s summer campaign titled the Superpower of Alkalinity.

The mirror tracks consumers’ faces and allows them to add “superpower” illustrations that coincide with one of Flow’s six flavors, creating an immersive experience that can be shared on social media, the company says.

“What inspired me first and foremost to incorporate the technology into our product experience was our 5 million customers,” said Nicholas Reichenbach, founder and chief executive officer of Flow, in a statement. “We hear all the time from them how amazing our super water makes people feel and wanted to bring that feeling to life in a fun way.”